Gautam Adani now world’s 3rd richest First Asian in top 3 A few years ago, Gautam Adani was relatively unknown outside India. Now, the Indian billionaire, a college dropout who initially tried his hand as a diamond trader before shifting to coal, is the third richest person in the world. It is the first time that an Asian has cracked the top three of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index; Mukesh Ambani and Jack Ma of China never made it that far. Mr. Adani has surpassed Bernard Arnault of France and currently follows only Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos of the United States in terms of wealth. Mr. Adani, 60, has spent the last several years building his coal-to-ports conglomerate, moving into data centers, cement, media, and alumina, among other industries. The business currently owns India’s largest private port and airport operator, city gas distributor, and coal miner. Environmentalists have criticized its Carmichael mine in Australia, but in November it committed to invest $70 billion in green energy to become the world’s largest renewable-energy generator. Concerns have grown as his empire has grown to become one of the world’s greatest companies, fueling his extraordinary wealth gains. This month, CreditSights released a study stating that Mr. Adani’s deal-making frenzy has been primarily supported by debt and his enterprise is “very overleveraged.” Some legislators and market observers have also highlighted concerns about the Adani Group’s opaque shareholder arrangements and lack of analyst coverage. As a result of the tycoon’s focus on areas that Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes vital to achieving India’s long-term objectives, the shares have skyrocketed, with prices reaching 750 times earnings for some of them since 2020. Gautam Adani now world’s 3rd richest First Asian in top 3 The turn to green energy and infrastructure has attracted investments from firms such as Warburg Pincus and TotalEnergies SE, allowing Mr. Adani to ascend to the ranks formerly occupied by U.S. tech moguls. The recent increase in coal prices has accelerated his ascension. Mr. Adani has added $60,9 billion to his fortune in 2022 alone, which is five times more than any other individual. He first eclipsed Mr. Ambani as the wealthiest Asian in February, became a billionaire in April, and topped Microsoft Corp.’s Bill Gates as the fourth-wealthiest person in the world last month. Mr. Adani was able to surpass some of the world’s wealthiest US billionaires in part because they have recently increased their charitable contributions. Gates announced in July that he would donate $20 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whereas Warren Buffett has previously contributed more than $35 billion to the foundation. Together with Gates’ ex-wife Melinda French Gates, they launched the Giving Pledge project in 2010, pledging to donate the majority of their wealth over their lifetimes. The billions of dollars spent on giving have caused their Bloomberg wealth ranking to decrease. Currently, Gates is fifth and Buffett is sixth. Mr. Adani has also expanded his charitable contributions. For his 60th birthday, he committed in June to donate $7.7 billion to philanthropic causes. As we celebrate 75 years of freedom, India stands on the threshold of infinite opportunities and accelerated growth. Powered by the aspirations and dreams of our youth, the greatest democracy’s story is only beginning. There can be no stopping India. Jai Hind. pic.twitter.com/16dLysJPpQ — Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) August 14, 2022