Gautam Adani once again becomes India's richest person
Gautam Adani, the Chairperson of the Adani Group, has surpassed Mukesh Ambani, the Chairperson of Reliance Industries, to reclaim the title of India's richest person. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI), Adani's fortune now places him among the top 12 billionaires globally. Meanwhile, Ambani closely follows him at the 13th position. To note, both have moved up the rankings since last year.
Both billionaires have moved up spots since last year
As of Friday, Adani's net worth stood at $97.6 billion, while Ambani trailed slightly at $97 billion. Adani has gained $7.67 billion from the last listed position and amassed $13.3 billion year-to-date (YTD). Earlier in December 2023, Adani had climbed to the 15th spot, reaching within close distance of Ambani who was then at number 14.
Adani Group stocks saw significant gains over the past week
The spike in Adani's net worth was driven by a surge in the conglomerate's shares. Over the past week, Adani Energy soared by 13%, followed by Adani Transmission at 12.65% and Adani Ports at 12%. Adani Total Gas surged by over 10%, Adani Enterprises by 6.8%, and Adani Power by 6.5%. Adani Green and Adani Wilmar also saw increases of 6.6% and 6%, respectively.
The fall of Adani before his rise
A US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, in its January 2023 report, accused Adani Group of creating and managing "a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities" in tax havens. It also accused the group of "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud." The report set off a $69 billion rout in the group's market cap, almost 60% of Adani's fortune.
Adani gets clean chit
On January 3 this year, the Supreme Court said that third-party sources (indicating George Soros-backed OCCRP report) cannot be used to challenge SEBI's investigation into the Hindenburg case. Judges in their ruling, found no grounds to transfer the probe to a special investigation team, giving a clean chit to Adani Group. This very news triggered a positive sentiment among investors.
