• Gautam Adani is worth $119 billion, just $13 billion less than Elon Musk, Bloomberg reported.
• The Indian industrialist is the only one of the world’s 10 wealthiest people to get richer in 2022.
• Adani founded the Adani Group, which has interests in energy, mining, and ports.
• For more stories, go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.

Gautam Adani, the world’s third-richest person, added $42 billion to his fortune this year even as other billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos saw their fortunes flail. 

The Indian industrialist is now worth $119 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Adani is founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate with businesses spanning energy, mining, ports, and airports. It owns India’s largest commercial port and has a controlling stake in Mumbai’s international airport.

Adani began the year in 14th place on the rich list. Soaring energy prices and a string of acquisitions, including a port in Israel and a hostile takeover of Indian broadcaster NDTV, boosted his fortune, Bloomberg reported.

Adani was worth just $10 billion as recently as June 2020, but data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows he hit the $100 billion threshold in April, although he was worth $150 billion in September.

The only people richer than Adani are Bernard Arnault, the CEO of Louis Vuitton and Moet owner LVMH, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, according to the Bloomberg index. Arnault is worth $162 billion and Musk about $132 billion.

Adani is the only one of the world’s 10 wealthiest people to get richer in 2022, per Bloomberg. Musk’s wealth crashed by $138 billion, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shed $87 billion, and Alphabet cofounder Larry Page slumped by $47 billion.

Adani is the richest Indian on the Bloomberg list, ahead of Mukesh Ambani, whose wealth is estimated at $86 billion. He controls Reliance Industries, another multinational conglomerate.

From diamond sorter to tycoon

Adani was born in Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, in 1962. He dropped out of university after his second year studying commerce, according to Silicon India. He then turned to the diamond industry, first as a sorter and then as a trader in Mumbai, the publication reported.

After his brother purchased a plastic company, Adani started working with him and began importing PVC, per Bloomberg. In 1988, he set up Adani Enterprises.

The Adani Group comprises seven listed companies that have 23,000 staff and are worth $166 billion, though that is down from $242 billion in August.

Most of Adani’s wealth is derived from the big shareholdings he has in his companies. According to Bloomberg, he holds 75% stakes in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions. Adani Enterprises’ share price has more than doubled over the last year while Adani Power’s tripled. Adani Enterprises had revenues of $9.6 billion in the six months to September.

A profile on the Adani Group website says Adani aims to make India a significant player in sustainable energy, and self-reliant in defence and security.

Adani said he and a companion were kidnapped in 1998 by a group of armed men. A police report said the kidnappers demanded a $2 million ransom and released the pair after the sum was paid, per The Indian Express. Eight people accused of the kidnapping were ultimately acquitted, Times Now India reported.

Adani was dining at the Taj Mahal Hotel during the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. He told India Today that from his table, he could see gunmen entering the hotel and hid in the hotel’s basement.