This Man Pushed Bezos Down One Spot in Richest Rankings

Bloomberg ranks Gautam Adani as world's 2nd richest
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 31, 2022 1:18 PM CDT
Updated Sep 18, 2022 6:00 AM CDT
New 3rd-Richest Man Is a College Dropout
Chairman of Adani Group Gautam Adani poses during the wedding reception of Indian businessman Akash Ambani in Mumbai, on March. 10, 2019.   (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Update: And then he was second. NPR reports that Gautam Adani of India has grabbed the No. 2 slot on the world's richest list from Jeff Bezos. It cites Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, which this week listed both Adani and Bezos as having a net worth of $147 billion; Bloomberg gave Adani the edge over Bezos. Adani also moved ahead of Bezos on a similar list maintained by Forbes, though that list puts LVMH luxury goods honcho Bernard Arnault in the second position, with Adani in third and Bezos in fourth. Our story from August 2022, which discusses the source of Adani's wealth, follows:

Gautam Adani has a fortune of $137 billion as of Tuesday, which means he's now the third-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The chairman of Indian conglomerate Adani Group is the first Asian to be named among the world's three richest people, per CNN. As CNBC points out, he's also a college dropout—though not the only one to be found among the world's richest billionaires. In line with Bill Gates' early exit from Harvard, Adani dropped out of India's Gujarat University in his second year studying commerce to become a diamond sorter, then worked his way up to a diamond trader, per Business Insider.

He later joined his brother's plastic company before founding Adani Enterprises in 1988. Two decades later, he emerged as a billionaire. Adani Group is now "a multinational conglomerate with businesses spanning energy, mining, port management, and airport operations," Insider reports. According to Bloomberg, Adani holds 75% stakes in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions. Like other billionaires, Adani saw his fortune climb during the pandemic, but he's the only one of the world's 10 richest people to see his net worth climb in 2022, adding $60.9 billion in wealth, per CNBC.

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He overtook fellow Indian Mukesh Ambani to become Asia's richest person in February. And on Tuesday, a surge pushed him ahead of French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault ($136 billion) in terms of wealth. He now sits in a coveted spot behind only Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($251 billion) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($153 billion), with Gates ($117 billion) trailing in fifth place. However, analysts aren't sure Adani will keep his position amid "concerns about the amount of debt his company has taken on during its expansion," CNBC reports. (More billionaires stories.)

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