You can see Gautam Adani’s name in the top section of the list of Richest man in India and Richest man in Asia. In fact, his position as the richest man in Asia is one of the popular topics of conversation as he and Mukesh Ambani have been in the longest fight for that title for decades now. But who is Gaurav Adani? Let’s find out!
Gautam Adani is the Indian Billionaire businessman who crafted the empire of Adani Group. This Ahmedabad based multinational conglomerate was founded in 1988 and since then, it has diversified into several businesses.
Fun Fact: Adani was 33 when he started Adani Group!
The main arm of the Adani Group is port development and operations in India, it has diversified into resources, logistics, energy, agriculture, defence and aerospace, amongst others.
As of 8th December 2021, Adani’s family Net Worth according to Forbes is estimated at US$79.6 Billion. He was also declared the second richest man in Asia and the 13th richest man in the world.
Adani is the founder and Chairman of Adani Group and President of Adani Foundation. The foundation is managed by his wife, Priti Adani at the helm.
He has a different percentage of stakes in the ventures which are a part of the Adani Group. According to the 2018 data, he had a 66% stake in Adani Ports & SEZ, 75% stake in Adani Enterprises, 73% stake in Adani Power, and a 75% stake in Adani Transmission.
Gautam Adani has a background of a middle-class Jain family based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. With his 2 siblings and parents, Shantilal and Shanti Adani, he resided in Gujarat while his father worked as a small textile merchant. He was keen on doing business since a young age and dropped out of Gujarat University in his second year where he was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in commerce.
Timeline of Gautam Adani Business
· 1978: But this business was not his father’s textile business. He began his career as a teenager who moved to Mumbai and became a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers. He gained a couple of years of experience and started his diamond brokerage firm at Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai.
· 1981: He joined his elder brother Mansukhbhai Adani when bought a plastics unit in Ahmedabad and started managing his business. This business unlocked Adani’s path to global business through PVC or polyvinyl chloride imports.
· 1985: He started his own import business of primary polymers for small scall industries in India.
· 1988: He began the today Adani Enterprises and then Adani Exports. It is the holding company of Adani Group which was originally dealing with only agricultural and power commodities.
· 1991: Economic liberalization opened the gates for Adani and he began trading metals, textiles, and agro products.
· 1994:the Government of Gujarat announced managerial outsourcing of the largest private port of India, Mundra Port
· 1995: Adani got the contract of Mundra Port. He set up his first jetty and today his brand is the largest private multi-port operator. The operations were transferred to Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ) from Mundra Port.
· 1996: He set the foundation. of Adani Power, which is the power business arm of the Group, and he holds thermal power plans with 4620 MW capacity. This is the largest private thermal power producer in the country.
· 2006: A decade later he entered into power generation business and acquired Abbot Port in Australia and Carmichael coal mine in Queensland as he scaled his empire.
· 2020: In May, he won the $6 billion worth world's largest solar bid by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Adani Green took up the 8000 MV photovoltaic power plant project and Adani Solar will be establishing 2000 MQ of additional solar cell and module manufacturing capacity. In September, he acquired a 74% stake in India’s second busiest Airport, Mumbai International.
Have a look ! Adani's statement on Indian economy bounce back from Pandemic
· 2021: He surpassed Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person for a few hours as the pandemic fear-driven stress led to losing $12 billion of his wealth.
Conclusion:
Adani is a school drop-out who ventured into Mumbai’s Diamond business scene after being allured by it. He is a visionary who envisioned his port business even as a young child visiting Gujarat's Kandla Port. His port project brought him closer to turning his childhood dream into reality.
The self-made businessman has ditched his family textile business and struggled his way to his first million and became a millionaire at 20 within three years of being in Mumbai as a diamond broker. Today, his company enjoys the stance of being the biggest private power producer in the country. 3% of the earnings of his group is targeted towards philanthropy.
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