Investor in renewables Gautam Adani becomes world’s second-richest person

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has surpassed Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become the second-richest person on the planet. Adani Group is active in a range of industries. It has the ambition to become the largest renewable energy producer.

Renewable energy is becoming an integral factor in the benchmark lists of the richest people on Earth. Gautam Adani, who recently reiterated that his Adani Group would invest USD 70 billion in the green energy transition and related infrastructure, has reached the second position in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a current wealth of USD 150 billion.

The 60-year-old businessman started the year at number 14. His stellar climb is reminiscent of Elon Musk’s advance to the world’s top spot, where he reigns supreme with USD 268 billion. The founder and chairman of Adani Group has amassed an estimated USD 150 billion, leaving behind Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Blue Origin, with USD 145 billion.

Rapid climb up wealth ladder with massive bet on renewables

The Indian mogul has the ambition to make its business the world’s largest renewable energy producer by 2030. It is already number one in solar energy. Adani Group is involved in the biggest hybrid solar and wind project on the planet, which the government is developing in Gujarat.

Its other activities include mining, for which the conglomerate has been criticized with regard to its environmental footprint. Gautam Adani is counting on green hydrogen as one of the sectors with the greatest potential.

Adani Green Energy Ltd. or AGEL announced last December that it signed the world’s largest ever green power purchase agreement, with state-owned Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI). The deal for nearly 4.7 GW of installed power is part of an 8 GW package from a tender held in 2020, which includes a manufacturing contract for solar cells and modules.

Gautam Adani is attracting major investments in his conglomerate

The group is attracting massive investment. In June, TotalEnergies bought a 25% stake in Adani New Industries. Among other bilateral contracts, the French company earlier acquired 20% of Adani Green Energy. International Holding Co. (IHC) from Abu Dhabi invested an overall USD 2 billion in Adani Group’s three subsidiaries.

In the Forbes billionaires list, Gautam Adani and his family are at the number three spot today with USD 152.4 billion, closely trailing Bernard Arnauld and family.