Gautam Adani overtakes Amazon's Jeff Bezos to become second-richest man. All you want to know

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani is now the world’s second-richest man. 

The Gujarati businessman, known for his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has surpassed Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become the second-richest man on the planet.

Adani is currently worth a whopping $154.7 billion and according to Forbes, is now behind only Elon Musk of Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink fame, who is worth $273.5 billion. 

Last month, Adani had become the third-richest person by overtaking Louis Vitton's Bernard Arnault. 

Arnault is now ranked third with his family's net worth totalling $153.5 billion as it slumped by $4.9 billion, or 3.08% today, while Bezos stands fourth with a wealth of $149.7 billion that declined by $2.3 billion.

So, where does that leave Mukesh Ambani?

The Reliance Industries boss is now at the eighth spot and is worth $92 billion.

What makes Adani’s rise so special?

What makes Adani’s rise to the top so special is that he is a first-generation entrepreneur who has gained so much wealth in a matter of a few years. 

But is everything well with the Adani Group?

Well, some recent analyst reports have said that the steep rise in valuations of Adani companies has been fuelled by billions of dollars in debt financing, which the conglomerate may find hard to pay back, and could end up in a bad debt hole. This could be disastrous not just for the group companies but also for the Indian economy, given how large the group has become.

Which industries is the Adani Group present in?

The 60-year-old billionaore has spent the past few years expanding his ports-to-power transmission empire, venturing into various businesses ranging from data centers to cement, media and more. The Adani Group owns India’s largest private-sector port and airport operator, city-gas distributor and coal miner.

Its food and kitchen essentials arm – Adani Wilmar is also vying for local and overseas acquisition targets in a bid to boost its empire’s food operations.

In May 2022, he made a big entry into cement when he won the race to acquire Swiss giant Holcim's cement business in India for $10.5 billion. Adani also wants to be the world's largest producer of green energy and has said he will invest upto $70 billion on renewable energy projects. He has increased his charitable giving, pledging in June to donate $7.7 billion for social causes to mark his 60th birthday.

But why is Adani so rich in the first place?

His net worth comes from fact that he owns big majority stakes in his group companies. 

He owns 75% stakes in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power and Adani Transmissions, according to March 2022 stock exchange filings. He also owns about 37% of Adani Total Gas, 65% of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone and 61% of Adani Green Energy.