Understanding Gautam Adani’s rise: a story on how to generate wealth via hope, equity and of course debt – Business Insider India
- Gautam Adani, the richest person in India, went from being a college dropout to building a nearly $200 billion empire.
- The Adani Group’s business consists of dirty energy like coal mining and natural gas distribution, to the hope of the future, renewable energy.
- In between these, the group also dabbles in ports, food and now cement and media businesses.
- But what is propelling the Adani Group to the top of the echelon of business houses in India? We try to understand this phenomenon.
Gautam Adani’s meteoric rise to the top has been nothing but surreal. Two years ago, his total wealth stood at a meagre $10 billion – in comparison to today as he is now worth nearly $105 billion.
From being just another billionaire to pipping Mukesh Ambani to the top in under two years must be a record of some sort. At his recent peak, the gap between Adani and Ambani stood at $27 billion. As of May 26, this has narrowed to nearly $10 billion.
Chasing dreams over education
Like Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani too is a college dropout – he was in his second year of graduation when he decided to chase his entrepreneurial dreams.
His first stab was at the lucrative diamond industry in Mumbai, but he soon moved back to his home state of Gujarat to help his brother in his plastics business.
He finally set up his own company – Adani Enterprises – in 1988. It would go on to become the flagship group company with its fingers in various sectors, from cement to media.Also Read
Gautam Adani crashes out of the $100 billion club, but still is 10x richer than he was 2 years back
Gautam Adani, the richest person in India, went from being a college dropout to building a nearly $200 billion empire. The Adani Group’s business consists of dirty energy like coal mining and natural gas distribution, to the hope of the future, renewable energy. In between these, the group also dabbles in ports, food and now cement and media businesses. But what is propelling the Adani Group to the top of the echelon of business houses in India?
Did you know: Gautam Adani was kidnapped in 1997 for a $1.5 million ransom. He was also at the iconic Taj hotel in Mumbai when terrorists attacked it on the night of November 26, 2008.
Hope – and aligning with the government’s vision – the driver behind Adani’s meteoric rise
It’s hard to pinpoint the primary driver behind the success of Gautam Adani until you look at the valuations of his group companies.