Asia’s richest person: Gautam Adani has once again become Asia’s richest individual after the billionaire industrialist’s net worth swelled to USD 89.2 billion, putting him ahead of Mukesh Ambani, who has a net worth of USD 88 billion and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son (USD 87 billion), Forbes reported.
Notably, Son held the title of Asia’s richest person before shares of the Japanese investment company slumped on Thursday.
Gautam Adani’s fortune has increased by nearly USD 10 billion
Gautam Adani’s fortune has increased by nearly USD 10 billion since the Justice Department dismissed fraud charges against the Adani Group last month, following allegations the conglomerate participated in a USD 250 million bribery scheme over solar energy supply contracts (Adani and his co-executives denied the claims), the report added.
In April too, it was reported that Gautam Adani overtook Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person, as a sustained rally in shares of his ports-to-energy conglomerate lifted his net worth.
With a net worth of USD 92.6 billion, Adani surpassed Ambani, whose fortune stands at USD 90.8 billion, to become the richest person in India and Asia, according to the latest billionaire rankings.
Adani, founder of his eponymous group, oversees India’s largest private seaport network, is the country’s biggest renewable energy producer and private airport operator, and ranks among the world’s largest coal traders.
Adani’s wealth is largely derived from his shareholdings across the group’s 10 listed companies. A recent surge in Adani Group stocks has added billions of dollars in market value, underscoring strong investor appetite for assets linked to India’s economic expansion and energy transition.
By contrast, Ambani’s wealth, anchored by his flagship conglomerate Reliance Industries that spans energy, telecom and retail, has seen comparatively modest gains, reshuffling the region’s billionaire rankings.
Topping the billionaire ranking is Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla – the worl’d most valuable carmaker – and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. His networth of USD 656 billion is more than double of his closest rival, Larry Page. Page, co-founder of Alphabet, the holding company for Google, is worth USD 286 billion.
Ambani had consistently been India’s richest for over a decade before Adani’s eye popping gains in company stock prices catapulted him to the top spot in February 2022.
However, his group’s stock tumbled in the aftermath of a damning report by a US short seller Hindenburg that led to Adani group losing USD 100 billion in market value at lowest point. This led to Ambani making a comeback at the top.
In mid-2024, Adani again overtook Ambani. This is largely because of Adani stocks surging due to infrastucture expansion and the energy transition narrative. Ambani again overtook the top slot in mid-2025 before losing it again this month.
The Adani Group has built a diversified portfolio spanning transport and logistics, integrated energy infrastructure across generation, transmission and distribution, as well as interests in natural resources, airports, defence and aerospace, data centres, cement, media, roads, rail and metro networks, real estate, urban redevelopment, food and FMCG, digital platforms and business incubation.
According to the group, Gautam Adani is India’s first first-generation entrepreneur to lead a business empire to a market capitalisation exceeding USD 200 billion.
