Gautam Adani

Gautam Shantilal Adani (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian billionaire industrialist and the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate with interests in ports, energy, logistics, agriculture, and infrastructure. In April 2026, Adani overtook Mukesh Ambani to become Asia's richest person. The Adani Group operates India's largest private port (Mundra Port) and has rapidly expanded into airports, data centers, renewable energy, and defense. Born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Adani dropped out of college and moved to Mumbai at age 18 to work as a diamond sorter. He soon started his own diamond brokerage business before returning to Gujarat to establish a commodity trading business. In 1988, he founded Adani Enterprises, which began as a commodity trading firm. The Adani Group's growth trajectory has been nothing short of extraordinary. Adani Ports & SEZ, the group's flagship port business, operates Mundra — India's largest commercial port. The group has acquired seven airports across India under the government's airport privatization program, including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mumbai's upcoming Navi Mumbai airport. In energy, Adani Green Energy is building the world's largest solar energy park in Rajasthan, with plans for 45 GW of renewable energy capacity. Adani Total Gas is expanding city gas distribution across India. The group has also entered data centers, defense manufacturing, and media (with the acquisition of NDTV). Despite facing a significant short-selling attack by Hindenburg Research in January 2023, which temporarily wiped out over $100 billion in market value, Adani Group stocks have recovered substantially. Adani himself has regained his position as Asia's richest person. His rise from a college dropout to one of the world's wealthiest individuals is one of the most remarkable business stories of the 21st century.