USA: Just a few years back, Gautam Adani was largely unknown outside India. But this week, the Indian businessman, a college dropout who tried his luck as a diamond merchant before switching to coal, became the third richest person in the world.

This is the first time an Asian has made it to the top three on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index; China's Jack Ma and fellow Indian Mukesh Ambani never reached that point. Adani has surpassed France's Bernard Arnault in the rankings, and is now only ahead of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos of the United States, who have a net worth of US$137.4 billion.

The 60-year-old has invested in growing its coal-to-ports group over the years by foraying into various industries including data center, cement, media and alumina.

The group now controls the largest private sector coal miner, city-gas distributor and operator of ports and airports in India. Environmentalists have criticized the company's Carmichael mine in Australia, but it pledged in November to invest US$70 billion in renewable energy to become the world's largest producer.

While their empire has grown to become one of the largest groups in the world, concerns have been raised by the rapid pace of expansion, fueling extraordinary growth in wealth.

According to a report released this month by CreditSights, Adani's deal-making spree is largely funded by debt and his empire is "profoundly more profitable".

Some lawmakers and market observers have also expressed concerns about unclear shareholder structures and lack of analyst coverage in the Adani Group of companies.

Still, as the tycoon focused on sectors that Prime Minister Narendra Modi deems essential to achieving India's long-term goals, shares have risen, some of them up more than 1,000% since 2020. , the valuation has reached 750 times earnings.

The shift to green energy and infrastructure has attracted investment from companies such as Warburg Pincus and Total Energies SE, allowing Adani to surpass American tech moguls in a previously untapped market. Their growth has been further accelerated by the recent surge in coal prices.

Adani has increased his wealth to a total of US$60.9 billion in 2022 alone, five times more than any other individual. He first surpassed Ambani as the richest Asian in February, turned into a "centibillionaire" in April, and last month surpassed Microsoft Corp's Bill Gates to become the world's fourth-richest person.
Due to his recent rise in philanthropy, some of the richest American billionaires have allowed Adani to surpass them in wealth. While Warren Buffett has already given more than US$35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates announced in July that he would transfer $20 billion to the organization.

Along with Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates, he started the Giving Pledge initiative in 2010, promising to donate most of his wealth before his passing. His position in Bloomberg's wealth rankings has been reduced due to the huge amount spent on philanthropy. They are currently ranked 164th and fifth respectively.

Adani, who turned 60 in June, also increased his charitable donations, pledging to donate US$7.7 billion to support social causes.

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