The second-richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos, has just dropped to third place as Indian business tycoon Gautam Adani rapidly advances up Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
With $260 billion in his bank account, Elon Musk, who is still the richest person in the world, may need to be careful. After beginning the year in position 14, Adani has climbed from there to position 2 in less than ten months.
Since white tech entrepreneurs have long dominated Bloomberg’s list, a person from Asia has never placed so highly on the list.
Musk’s $260 billion is still much ahead of Adani’s $146.9 billion wealth, which is mostly comprised of the holdings of his enormous Adani Group conglomerate. The group owns and operates a variety of profitable businesses, including ports and coal.
Since June 2020, shares of several Adani companies have increased more than 1,000%, indicating investor confidence in the conglomerate’s capabilities in sectors such as renewable energy and infrastructure, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised for development. In 2022, shares of his flagship company, Adani Enterprises, have increased by more than 115%.
Adani overtook fellow Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani in February to take the title of richest person in Asia.
According to report, Bezos’s net worth decreased to $145.8 billion as tech stocks took a beating amid a larger equities selloff on Friday. Early trading saw a 3% decline in Amazon shares, bringing the stock’s year-to-date decline to over 25%.
The list’s previous top-ranked person was the founder of Amazon, but after his divorce in 2019, his wealth declined. A large portion of his fortune is invested in Amazon stock. Bloomberg claims that since January, Bezos’ net worth has decreased by $45 billion as a result of the tech selloff.