India’s Gautam Adani joins Elon Musk and Warren Buffett in the centibillionaires club
By Diksha Madhok, CNN Business
India’s Gautam Adani has joined what is probably the most elite club in the world.
The infrastructure tycoon’s wealth hit $100 billion over the weekend, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the richest person in Asia. He joins nine other men in the centibillionaires club, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett.
French businessman Bernard Arnault — the chairman of luxury goods group LVMH — and Adani are the only non-Americans with fortunes worth at least $100 billion.
As stock markets boomed around the world during the pandemic, many billionaires saw their wealth skyrocket, but Adani’s gains have been exceptional.
The 59-year-old founder of the Adani Group controls companies ranging from ports and aerospace to thermal energy and coal, and has seen his fortune soar by nearly $90 billion over the last two years.
Shares of some Adani companies have jumped more than 1,000% since June 2020, a sign that investors are optimistic about the billionaire industrialist’s ability to bet on sectors such as infrastructure and renewable energy, which are key to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic development goals.
Adani is now the 10th richest man in the world, just ahead of fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani, who is worth $99 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Ambani, who controls Reliance Industries, has also moved his focus from oil to newer ares such as green energy and technology.
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