How Gautam Adani, the richest man in Asia, managed to spectacularly increase his fortune

Men, white, from the United States or some European country. This is how the exclusive club of the 5 richest people in the world was formed until recently.

But that changed just a few weeks ago, when Indian businessman Gautam Adani knocked Microsoft founder Bill Gates out of fourth place and pushed mega-investor Warren Buffett out of the group, according to billionaire indexes compiled by Forbes magazine and Bloomberg news agency.

The Indian tycoon has entered the select circle because his fortune has seen a significant increase in recent years and in particular the last 12 months. Today, Adani’s businesses and assets are estimated to exceed US$125 billion, which is double the 2021 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Uruguay.

Last year alone, the businessman’s wealth increased by $48.7 billion, making him the richest man in all of Asia.

In contrast, the other members of the club (Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and new owner of Twitter; Bernard Arnault, owner of Louis Vuitton; Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon; and Bill Gates) suffered significant losses, due to the turmoil that the markets are suffering, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

a survivor

Adani is the founder of a conglomerate of companies called the Adani Group, which has businesses in sectors ranging from infrastructure and logistics to energy.

But how did this empire begin?

Adani did not become a millionaire by inheritance. He was born in June 1962 to a middle class family in Ahmedabad in the State of Gujarat near Mumbai. His father was a small textile merchant.

After finishing high school, he started studying business at the University of Gujarat, but dropped out in his second year.

In 1981, his older brother bought a plastics factory in Ahmedabad and invited him to join the business. Adani was dedicated to importing PVC, but years later expanded into other products — and began exporting textiles, agricultural products and precious stones (diamonds).

Luck smiled on him. That’s how, in 1995, it started to operate its first port in India, and today it operates several throughout the country.

But prosperity has attracted the attention of criminal groups — and one of them kidnapped him in 1997 as he was leaving an exclusive club.

He was released hours later, but after paying $1.5 million, according to local media.

Years later, on November 26, 2008, when Adani was staying at the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, it was attacked by Islamic extremists.

The businessman was having dinner with colleagues, but was unharmed, as he managed to hide in the basement of the building until Indian troops managed to liquidate the terrorists.

“I saw death 4 meters away,” he later declared.

connections with power

From ports and the distribution of goods, Adani jumped into the energy sector. Thus, today he not only owns power plants, but also companies that distribute and sell it directly to Indian homes.

It also owns Australia’s controversial Carmichael project, an open pit coal mine that supplies power plants, for which it has received harsh criticism from environmentalists and even lawsuits.

However, in his country he has factories that develop solar panels and also data processing centers.

In addition to his nose and business vision, there are those in India who believe that there are other reasons that explain Adani’s success.

One of these reasons is his relationship with the country’s current prime minister, the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, with whom he has maintained a close relationship since he was governor of the state of Gujarat (2001-2014), where Adani was born and where they are now. the headquarters of their companies.

“He got preferential treatment from the state,” researcher Hemidra Hazari told CNBC.

In 2019, Adani won the contract to manage six airports in the country, despite having no experience in this area.

“In India, something similar to what happened to Russian oligarchs, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, is happening, who became rich from the privatization of huge former Soviet properties, conglomerates and sectoral monopolies, thanks to their access to leaders,” Hazari added. .

Furthermore, Adani has been an important funder of Bharatiya Janata, Modi’s party.

And proof of this is that, when the prime minister came to power in 2014, he used the magnate’s plane to fly from Gujarat to New Delhi, the country’s capital, to take office, the British newspaper Financial Times reported in November. 2020

With the government’s backing, Adani now wants to venture into another area: communications. In August, he made an offer to acquire 26% of New Delhi Television (NDTV), the country’s top news broadcaster.

Some in the country see this as another step that favors Modi’s chances in the face of the 2024 general election.

Adani’s connections to Indian political power also appear to have shielded him from the financial turmoil that the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused. The reason? The Modi government refused to impose sanctions on Moscow, and in response, the Kremlin decided to sell India its oil and gas at a discount.

That policy would explain why Adani is one of the few billionaires who has seen the value of his companies soar in recent months.

This year, the share price of Aldani Power, the group’s energy division, is up 293%, while Adani Gas is up 146%, according to Bloomberg reports.

This text was originally published here.