Gautam Adani | |
|---|---|
 Adani in 2012 | |
| Born | Gautam Shantilal Adani (1962-06-24)24 June 1962 (age 62) |
| Alma mater | Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya[1] (dropped out, 1978)[2] |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Organisation | Adani Group |
| Title |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Vinod Adani (brother) |
Gautam Shantilal Adani (Gujarati:[ɡəʊt̪əmʃãn̪t̪ilaləd̪aɳiː]) (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of theAdani Group, amultinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.[3][4] As of 17 January 2025, Adani is ranked second richest person in Asia and 25th in the world, with a net worth of $60.4 billion.[5] In 2022,Time magazine included him in the100 most influential people in the world.[6]
As a teenager, Adani moved toMumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers. In 1981, Adani managed his elder brother's plastic unit inAhmedabad which was his gateway to global trading throughpolyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports and establishing the Adani Group in 1988.
Adani has been described as being close to India's Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and to his rulingBharatiya Janata Party government[4][7][8] which has led to allegations ofcronyism.[9] In January 2023, the American short selling activist firmHindenburg Research accused Adani ofstock manipulation and fraud.[10] In January 2024, theSupreme Court resolved the Adani Group stocks dispute arising from Hindenburg Research's allegations and dismissed requests for an SIT or CBI investigation.[11][12] As of October 2023, Adani's fortune is estimated at $54.2 billion and ranked 23rd on theForbesReal Time Billionaires list.[13][14][15][16][17]
On 20 November 2024, a five-count criminal indicmentby the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, New York charged Adani and executives for five criminal counts of bribery. Adani is alleged to have paid over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure contracts inAndhra Pradesh,Chhattisgarh,Odisha,Jammu and Kashmir, andTamil Nadu.[18][19][20]
Adani was born on 24 June 1962 in aGujaratiJain family to Shantilal and Shantaben Adani inAhmedabad, Gujarat.[21] He has seven siblings. His parents had migrated from the town ofTharad in the northern part of Gujarat.[22] His father was a small textile merchant.[23]
Adani was educated atSheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya school in Ahmedabad, but dropped out when he was 16.[1][2] Adani was keen on business, but not his father'stextile business.[24]
As a teenager, Adani moved toMumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers.[25] In 1981, his elder brother Mahasukhbhai Adani bought a plastics unit in Ahmedabad and invited him to manage the operations. This venture turned out to be Adani's gateway to global trading throughpolyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports.[1] In 1985, he started importing primary polymers for small-scale industries. In 1988, Adani established Adani Exports, now known asAdani Enterprises, the holding company of the Adani Group. Originally, the company dealt in agricultural and power commodities.[1] In 1991, theeconomic liberalisation policies turned out to be favourable for his company and he started expanding the businesses into trading of metals, textiles, and agro products.[1][26]
In 2006, Adani entered the power generation business.[27] From 2009 to 2012, he acquiredAbbot Point Port in Australia andCarmichael coal mine inQueensland.[28]
In February 2022, he became Asia's richest person, surpassingMukesh Ambani,[29] and in August 2022, he was named the 3rd richest person in the world byFortune.[30]
In 1994, theGovernment of Gujarat announced managerial outsourcing of theMundra Port and in 1995, Adani obtained the contract.[7]
In 1995, he set up the first jetty. Originally operated by Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone, the operations were transferred toAdani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ). Today, the company is the largest private multi-port operator.Mundra Port is the largest private sector port in India, with the capacity of handling close to 210.150 million tons of cargo per annum.[31][32]
In 1996, the power business arm of the Adani Group, Adani Power, was founded by Adani. Adani Power holdsthermal power plants with a capacity of 4620MW, the largest privatethermal power producer of the country.[33]
In May 2020, Adani won the world's largest solar bid by theSolar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) worth US$6 billion. The 8000MWphotovoltaic power plant project will be taken up byAdani Green; Adani Solar will establish 2000MW of additional solar cell and module manufacturing capacity.[34][35]
In September 2020, Adani acquired a 74% stake inMumbai International Airport, India's second busiest afterDelhi.[36]
In May 2022, Adani family acquiredAmbuja Cements and its subsidiaryACC from Swiss building materials giantHolcim Group for $10.5 billion, through an overseasspecial-purpose entity.[37]
In August 2022, AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL), a unit of Adani Group, declared that it planned to buy RRPR Holding, owner of 29.18% of national news broadcasterNDTV, and made an open offer to buy a further 26%. In a statement, NDTV said that Adani acquired his stake via a third party without informing the company's founders, former journalistRadhika Roy and her economist husbandPrannoy Roy and that the deal was done “without discussion, consent or notice.”[38] This bid also raised concern regarding editorial independence in India, since Adani is considered to be close to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s rulingBharatiya Janata Party.[4][39] By December 2022, Adani was described as controlling the largest shareholding in NDTV.[40][41]The Economist said that before Adani bought NDTV, the news channel was "critical of the government but is now supine."[8]
In 2025, Gautam Adani attended theMaha Kumbh Mela inPrayagraj with his family, including his wife,Priti Adani. During the event, theAdani Group collaborated withISKCON to organizeMahaprasad Seva, an initiative that provided free meals to devotees throughout the festival, which took place from January 13 to February 26, 2025.[42]
In 2002, Adani was arrested byDelhi Police in execution of a non-bailable warrant (NBW), following a cheating complaint by a top official of M S Shoes. The court withdrew the NBW the next day after the court was informed that the parties were negotiating for a compromise.[43]
In 2012, theSerious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) filed a charge sheet against twelve accused including Adani for cheating & criminal conspiracy related to the purchase and sale of shares. According to SFIO, Adani Agro allegedly provided funds and shares for running illegal activities. A local court in Mumbai discharged Adani & others accused of this case in May 2014.[44] However, in 2020, a Mumbai sessions court overturned the clean chit to Adani in this case.[45]
In January 2023, Adani and his companies were accused of stock manipulation byNew York-based investment firmHindenburg Research in a report titled "Adani Group: How The World's 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History". Following that, Adani Group stocks plummeted $45 billion. The losses resulted in Adani dropping from the 3rd richest person in the world to 22nd on Forbes' billionaires tracker.[46][47] The report accused the group of having substantial debt and being on a "precarious financial footing", causing stocks of seven listed Adani companies to fall 3-7%. The report was released ahead of Adani Enterprises' follow-on public offering, which opened on Friday, 6 pm, 27 January 2023.[48] The Adani Group's CFO (Jugeshinder 'Robbie' Singh)[49] stated that the timing of the report's publication was a "brazen, mala fide intention" to damage the offering.[48] The Adani Enterprises public offering was cancelled on 1 February 2023.[50][51]
The Adani Group said that the Hindenburg Research report was "malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale" information,[48][52] and that they were "evaluating the relevant provisions under U.S. and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research".[53][54]Reuters reported that it was unlikely that the Adani Group would sue Hindenburg in the U.S. because American courts usually regard financial analysis as protected opinion under American free speech laws.[55] The Adani Group published a 413-page rebuttal to the claims by Hindenburg Research.[56][57]
TheOrganised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported in August 2023 that it had documents which prove how the Adani Group used individuals and front companies to buy and sell Adani stocks thus bypassing Indian securities laws that seek to prevent share price manipulation. The OCCRP named two individuals — Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling — as being responsible for stock trading in and on behalf of Adani Group stocks amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.[58][59]
On 21 November 2024, Gautam Adani and his associates werecharged by a district court in New York for paying bribes of more than US$250 million to Indian government officials in order to obtain favourable energy contracts. Prosecutors also claimed that Adani group had raisedUS$3 billion in loans and bonds by concealing the scheme from American investors through false and misleading statements.[60] Following the news his net worth fell by $12 billion.[61]
As a result of the indictments, Kenya canceled over US$2.5 billion in regards to the takeover ofJomo Kenyatta International Airport and other energy deals.[62] There were concerns in Kenya that they could be liable for breach of contract costs.[63]
Adani is widely known for being close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his rulingBharatiya Janata Party.[4][39] This has led to allegations ofcronyism as his firms have won many Indian energy and infrastructure government contracts.[64][65] An Indian government auditor accused Modi in 2012 of giving low cost fuel from a Gujarat state-run gas company to Adani and other businesspeople.[66]
Adani and Modi have both denied allegations ofcronyism.[9]The Economist has described Adani as "a master operator", skilled at "navigating the complicated legal and political landscape of Indian capitalism," although the magazine cautions that his firm is known for its "Byzantine" structure and opaque finances.[56]
The Resurgent Group of Gujarat (RGG) was founded as a rival organisation by local businessmen with Adani as its chairman, after leaders of theConfederation of Indian Industry (CII) criticized Modi's management of the2002 Gujarat riots.[67][68][65]
Gautam Adani married Priti Vora, a dentist, in 1986 and have two sons, Karan and Jeet.[69][70][71] Priti Adani is the chairperson of Adani Group’s philanthropic arm, the Adani Foundation.[71] Karan is CEO ofAdani Ports & SEZ. Jeet leads the Adani Airports business and the Adani Digital Labs.[72][73]
In January 1998, Adani and an associate, Shantilal Patel, were allegedly abducted and held hostage for ransom.[74][75] Two former gangsters Fazl-ur-Rehman and Bhogilal Darji, were accused of the kidnapping. They were acquitted in an Indian court in 2018, after Adani and Patel did not show up fordepositions, despite multiple summons by the court.[75][9]
Adani was in the restaurant ofTaj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai having dinner with the CEO of Dubai Ports at 21:50 on 26 November 2008 when thehotel was attacked by terrorists. The terrorists were only 15 feet (4.6 m) away from them. Adani hid in the hotel kitchen and later in the toilet and came out safely at 08:45 the next day.[76][77][74]
Media related toGautam Adani at Wikimedia Commons
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