A college drop-out multi billionaire businessman founder and chairman of ADANI GROUP.
’A college drop-out multi billionaire businessman founder and chairman of ADANI GROUP. Ranked as 2nd richest person in Asia and 25th in the world, with a net worth of $60 billion. In 2022 Time magazine included him in 100 most influential people in the world. Gautam Adani is chairman of the Ahmedabad-based Adani Group with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, green energy, edible oils, cement and real estate, among others.
Adani is India’s biggest airport operator with eight airports and also controls Mundra Port, India’s largest by cargo capacity, in his home state of Gujarat.
Adani became India’s second-largest cement producer by capacity in 2022, after acquiring Swiss firm Holcim’s Indian assets for $6.4 billion.
EARLY LIFE:
Gautam Shantilal Adani was born on 24th June 1962 in a Gujarati Jain family to Shantilal Adani and Shantaben Adani in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His father was a textile merchant. He was educated at Sheth Chimanlal Nagidas Vidayalaya school. He was enrolled for Bachelor’s degree in commerce at Gujarat University but was dropped out after second year. His first venture was a diamond sorting business in Mumbai, which he started in 1980s.
ADANI GROUP:
1994- the government of Gujarat announced managerial outsourcing of Mundra port and Adani obtained that contract
1995- he setup the first jetty. Originally Operated by Mundra port and special economic zone, the operations were transferred to Adani ports and SEZ.
1996- Adani power was founded by Adani. It holds thermal power plants with a capacity of 4620MW.
2020- Adani won the world’s largest solar bid by the SECI.
Acquired a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport. Adani is India’s biggest airport operator with eight airports and also controls Mundra Port, India’s largest by cargo capacity, in his home state of Gujarat.
Adani became India’s second-largest cement producer by capacity in 2022, after acquiring Swiss firm Holcim’s Indian assets for $6.4 billion.
2022- He acquired Ambuja cements and its subsidiary ACC from swiss building material giant Holcim group. By December 2022 he was described as controlling the largest shareholder in NDTV.
CONTROVERSIES AND CHALLENGES:
The Adani group’s history is riddled with claims of stock manipulation, environmental abuse and conspiracy, with the latest being defrauding investors and securities fraud.
With a U.S. court indicating Gautam Adani and seven others on charges of securities and wire fraud, Adani’s stocks nosedived as possible arrest of one of the richest businessman looms large.
The U.S department of justice, securities and exchange commission accuses Mr. Adani of duping investors by concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.
Adani group lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on November 21st 2024. Adani’s flagship company Adani enterprises tumbled 23%, while Adani ports, Adani total gas, Adani green, Adani power, Adani Wilmar and Adani energy solutions Ambuja cement and NDTV fell between 20% and 90%.
The business relationship between Adani and the state of Gujarat grew increasingly cordial in the 2000s. Early in the decade, Adani was one of the businessmen in the state who came to the rescue of the embattled chief minister of Gujarat (2001–14), Narendra Modi, who was steeped in controversy despite overseeing the state’s booming economy. Modi faced criticism in particular for doing little to stop the killing of more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, in the 2002 Gujarat riots. In response to his handling of the riots, Modi came under fire in 2003 from India’s powerful trade association, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which threatened to disinvest from the state of Gujarat.
Adani, however, not only continued to invest in Gujarat throughout the scandal but also helped set up a new organization (Resurgent Group of Gujarat) that diluted the influence of CII in the state. Moreover, he was a founding member of the biennial Vibrant Gujarat summit, which brought together business leaders to encourage collaboration in investing in Gujarat. The rapid industrialization in Gujarat, along with the state’s business-friendly environment relative to the rest of India, became a significant factor in Modi’s later rise to prime minister.
CONCLUSION:
Gautam Adani’s journey from a small-town boy to a global business magnate is nothing short of inspirational. His relentless ambition, visionary outlook, and ability to seize opportunities have propelled the Adani group to a new height. While the future may hold challenges and controversies, there is nothing to deny that Gautam Adani will continue to be a key figure in India’s business landscape for years to come.
