Gautam Adani, the Indian tycoon who has climbed the wealth rankings at breakneck speed this year, surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest person.
Mr Adani, who started the year as No 14 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, now has a $146.9 billion fortune that trails only Elon Musk’s $260bn.
Shares of his flagship Adani Enterprises surged to a record this week, and some of his group companies have climbed more than 1,000 per cent since 2020.
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Mr Bezos’s net worth dropped to $145.8bn as of 10.38am New York time on Friday, as a renewed tech sell-off again hammered the fortunes of the richest Americans.
The shift in the wealth rankings could be fleeting and depends largely on shares of Amazon, which are down more than 26 per cent this year.
Mr Adani first overtook India’s Mukesh Ambani as the richest Asian person in February, became a centibillionaire in April and surpassed Bill Gates and France’s Bernard Arnault in the past two months.
It’s the first time someone from Asia has featured this high in the top echelons of the wealth index, which has been dominated by US tech entrepreneurs.
Mr Adani, 60, dropped out of college to try his luck in Mumbai’s diamond industry in the early 1980s before turning to coal and ports.
His conglomerate has since expanded into everything from airports to data centres, cement, media and green energy, focusing on areas that Prime Minister Narendra Modi deems crucial to meeting India’s long-term economic goals.
The nation’s largest private-sector port and airport operators, city-gas distributor and coal miner are all part of Mr Adani’s empire, which also aims to become the world’s largest renewable-energy producer.
Last year, it pledged to invest $70bn in green power, a pivot that has been criticised by some as greenwashing given that so much of the group’s revenue still comes from fossil fuels.
The push into renewables and infrastructure has earned Mr Adani investments from companies including Warburg Pincus and TotalEnergies, helping to boost his companies’ shares and his personal fortune.
This year, he added about $70bn to his wealth — more than anyone else — while many have seen losses.
The rapid expansion of Mr Adani’s conglomerate prompted Fitch Group unit CreditSights to describe some of the companies’ leverage as “elevated” in a September report. The group has said its companies have reduced debt levels in recent years.
The scrutiny is adding to already existing worries over opaque shareholder structures and a lack of analyst coverage. Some Adani Group companies have traded at 700 times earnings, far surpassing companies such as Tesla. and Amazon, whose valuations have been closer to 100 times.
Mr Adani’s rise coincides with a tech sell-off that has shaved more than $45bn from Mr Bezos’s fortune since January.
The net worth of the Amazon founder — for years the world’s richest person — also significantly dropped after his 2019 divorce from ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, who received 4 per cent of the e-commerce giant.
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The Indian tycoon, who has vowed to donate $7.7bn for social causes, has also been able to climb the wealth ranking because many of the tech entrepreneurs at the top have boosted their charitable giving.
Mr Bezos has committed $10bn to fight climate change and has donated money to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Mr Gates and Warren Buffett, some of the top philanthropists, started the Giving Pledge initiative in 2010 to help ease a growing inequality gap.
The Microsoft co-founder said in July he was transferring $20bn to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has also received more than $35bn from Mr Buffett.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Men's football draw
Group A: UAE, Spain, South Africa, Jamaica
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Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5