India has the most renowned self-made billionaires. According to the Forbes real-time billionaires list, 2 out of top 10 persons are from India.
In this article, we will look at the life of Gautam Adani and his journey toward becoming a global billionaire.
Gautam Shantilal Adani is the founder of the Adani Group, a multinational corporation headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. Adani's business is well diversified covering various sectors.Recently, according to the Forbes and Bloomberg Index, Gautam Adani has become the second-richest man in the world. Adani is listed as having a net worth of $151 billion on the Forbes list, surpassing Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault of Louis Vuitton.
.png "Bloomberg's Billionaires Index") |
| Courtesy: Bloomberg 20-Sep-2022 |
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| Courtesy: Forbes 20-Sep-2022 |
His family
Gautam Adani was born in Ahmedabad on 24th June 1962 to Gujarati Jain Parents - Shantilal and Shantaben Adani. He has seven siblings and his father owned a small textile business. His parents had moved from Tharad in Gujarat's northern region to Ratanpol, Ahemadabad in search of livelihood. Gautam Adani received his education at Ahmedabad's Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya. He enrolled in Gujarat University to get a bachelor's in commerce, but he dropped out after the first year and moved to Mumbai to try his fortune in the year 1978. Born in a business family, Adani's keen was interest in business, but he didn't like his father's textile merchant business.
Gautam Adani married Priti on 1 May 1986, who by profession is a dentist, and presently a Founder of the Adani Foundation. Both his sons, Mr. Karan Adani and Mr. Jeet Adani, are actively involved in the family business.
The Gautam Adani house in Ahmedabad is next to a busy street. Once you enter the opulent property, though, you'll see that it's peaceful. The house is surrounded by large trees and well-kept gardens. The Gautam Adani house in Ahmedabad is surrounded by several lovely open courtyards. It is this house where, Gautam Adani resides with his wife, Priti Adani, Karan Adani, and Jeet Adani.
Stride to success
Adani is a very ambitious person with big dreams and inherited business acumen. He began his career sorting Diamond with Mahendra Brothers. Soon after, he established his solely-owned Diamond brokerage business in Zaveri Bazaar, and he found great success.
His net worth is even more than that of Warren Buffet and Google founder Larry Page. Many people said that he achieved all the fame through hard work and determination while many others said that the current Modi administration supported him to become the richest person.
In 1981, Gautam Adani’s elder brother Mr. Mansukhbhai Adani bought a plastic factory and asked Gautam to join his business and manage its operations. This was Gautam’s first opportunity. The business required tons of plastic as its raw material. Due to a shortage of supply in India, Gautam decided to start commodity trading by importing plastic polymers through Kandla port. He aggressively expanded his business.
Gautam Adani had gone on a school trip to Kandla Port when he was younger. He was astounded by the enormous port and made a pledge to himself that when he was older, he would construct a port of comparable size. When he was awarded the contract to construct and run the Mundra Port in 1998, he delivered on his promise. It was one of the turning points in his life as well as dream come true whoch inspired him to work more.
He expanded the Mundra Port to make it India's largest freight port. Mundra port was not connected with railway lines while all other ports were connected through railway lines. Adani established his businesses near the port and also constructed rail to connect it with other ports at the cost of USD 1.5B.
Today Mundra port is one of the biggest commercial ports in India. One of the reasons for this expansion of this port is Adani’s commitment to building infrastructure to support its operations.
A year later, Adani started its venture into the energy sector.
Today, its India’s biggest power generation company with an output of 12450 MW. It
is also one of the biggest solar power generation companies.
In 1999, Adani entered into coal. Apart from these, Adani
also foot-stepped into the FMCG industry through Adani Wilmar. After 2012, his
business started growing exponentially with its reach into various sectors including
Airports. Adani currently has 9 listed companies.
Apart from ports, Adani diversified his businesses into the supply chain, energy, aerospace, agriculture, and defense among others.
Here is the Gautam Adani business list with the market capitalization of each of Adani's companies.
Adversities and Allegations
Managing a business is itself very difficult work. Adani has also faced many adverse incidents. In 1997, After leaving the Karnavati Club and driving toward Mohammadpura Road in a car, Adani and Shantilal Patel were abducted and held to ransom at gunpoint. They were transported to an unidentified location before being let go.
Adani's life had experienced more unpleasant events besides
the kidnapping. He was eating dinner at the renowned Taj hotel in Mumbai on
November 26, 2008, during the terrorist attack. As terrorists killed
nearly 160 people inside, Adani was hiding in the basement. When commandos took charge
of the situation and started fighting the terrorists, he was rescued unharmed.
Adani is often compared with Mukesh Ambani as both are of the same age group, belong to Gujarati families, and are rigid. Many people believe Adani is comparable to Dhirubhai Ambani and not Mukesh Ambani as both were self-made billionaires who expanded their businesses into different sectors.
Despite the numerous allegations against Adani, he managed to counter them effectively. Let us discuss a few of the notable allegations.
Politician Rahul Gandhi in a speech said that the Modi government has given
35000-acre land at Re 1 per sqm. Adani responded saying the previous
governments have provided land at 10 paise per sqm. Land acquisition is not the
main business of Adani and the land was barren on which they constructed
infrastructure which increased its value later.
Another allegation is Adani has high debt and yet
the company share prices are increasing. The share prices must have been
artificially inflated and if he has that much money then why he does not repay the debt
completely. On this allegation, Karan Adani responded saying there are
underlying assets and infrastructure they built, and no debt repayments
have defaulted in the previous 3 decades which has earned Adani ports and
Adani transmission investment grade A ranking from credit rating agencies.
The third allegation is that Modi favors Adani time and again and they are close friends. Adani responded by saying that he does not know of any incident where Modi has supported any party or any businessman.
Apart from allegations being raised Adani also faced protests in Galilee Basin, Australia. Adani wanted to operate a coal mine. However, there was no transport to move the excavated coal. It required him to lay rail lines which would increase its cost and also disturb the bio-diversity in the basin. He also faced backlash from the protesters. But Adani did not stop. Taking advantage of the elections there he invested US$2Bn and started the project on small scale. Carmichael coal mine in Australia is now managed by Adani.
The newest allegations come from NDTV promoters regarding the hostile takeover of NDTV without their consent. Adani has rubbished the claim as baseless, legally untenable, and devoid of merit.
One of the few media organizations that criticize the policies of the current administration is NDTV.
Philanthropy
Adani has also made Philanthropy through the Adani foundation founded on 15th January 1996 which is looked after by his wife – Priti Adani. This foundation works in various states of India like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and Odisha. During COVID-19 Pandemic, Adani donated approximately US$12m to the PM Cares fund, US$600k to the Gujarat CM Relief fund, and around US$123k to the Maharashtra CM Relief fund. Adani Group also donated 1500 oxygen daily during the peak time of the COVID Pandemic in the Kutch District.
How Adani became the second wealthiest person in the world?
The Adani Group is now the biggest conglomerate in India with a market valuation greater than $200 billion. It has spawned many industries, including the distribution of city gas, transmission, and renewable energy. The company's present priorities include a variety of industries, including solar manufacturing, defense, airports, highways, and green enterprises.
Jeff Bezos's net worth decreased as Amazon Inc shares have slumped more than 26% this fiscal year. While Gautam Adani company - Adani Wilmar gained more than 90 percent within the same period, and the shares of Adani Group have soared over 120 percent in only one month.
The main reason is that the majority of nations are in a recession because of the Russia-Ukraine War. However, India has done a commendable job of keeping itself away from the conflict. While other billionaires are suffering financial losses due to the conflict, Adani has benefited from consumer demand for sunflower oil substitutes like groundnut and mustard oil, soybean oil, etc. since the supply of sunflower oil and palm oil has been interrupted.
Adani Wilmar has the ideal potential to boost Gautam Adani's business and its profitability to establish itself as the leader in the current fiscal year as oil prices are rising.
Recent Updates
On August 23, the Adani Group of Companies stated that it would indirectly purchase a 29.18% share in New Delhi Television Limited, outlining plans for an upcoming open offer for a 26% further stake by Indian regulations.
NDTV alleged in a statement that this "was accomplished without NDTV founder's participation or consent" after the announcement.
NDTV's promoters - Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, were warned by the stock exchanges that they are temporarily prohibited from accessing securities transactions by the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Bureau of India) until November 26, 2022. Adani Group would therefore need the market regulator's permission to purchase a stake in NDTV.
Adani Enterprises stated in a regulatory filing with the stock exchanges on August 26, 2022, that prior approval from SEBI is not necessary for the allocation of the channel's shares to its subsidiary Vishvapradhan Commercial.
Leadership Qualities of Gautam Adani
What we can learn from Adani?
Adani is a great industrialist who never misses any to create opportunities for himself. He never waited for opportunities to come his way, he saw opportunities in the economy and markets and grabbed them instantly. Opportunities are always there. A person just needs the right mindset to see them. It comes with training and practice.
Adani is an extremely resilient person and does not give up so easily. We can see this quality during the setting up of the Carmichael coal mining in Australia's Queensland. He faced a lot of hurdles but never gave up.
Adani also has strong values that are seen in his attitude. Despite the allegations and the hate that was directed toward him and his way of working he maintained his core values and countered them effectively.
Adani is a very disciplined businessman. We can see his discipline in his commitments. He stays true to his principles and gives back to society whenever he can which helped him succeed through his foundation.
Adani has a rigid outlook and high moral standards. When the wrong ways seem to be easy and tempting, these qualities are what keep him on the right path to success.
Adani also believes in the growth mindset. Adani has always understood the need for diversity and how it will help him develop significantly. He, therefore, varied his business by the state of the market. Adani began by exporting goods related to agriculture and energy, but over time he created enterprises in a variety of industries, including logistics, port construction, oil and gas exploration, and power generation and distribution.
Adani is one of the most well-known figures in the green energy industry which will grow soon. This progressive thinking gave him all round prosperity and success. It also helped him rise to become the second wealthiest person in the world.
Key Takeaway
The achievements of the Adani Group and Gautam Adani's success story serve as motivation and a bright example of focus, persistence, fortitude, and success. Success is frequently assessed by one's financial worth in an era with an increase in entrepreneurial success. However, the success comes from years of toil and sacrifice that got individuals to where they are now.
The primary factors influencing Gautam Adani's success are his business savvy, perseverance, learning attitude, and capacity for seizing opportunities. Furthermore, no one is born with certain traits or skills. By consistently devoting time and effort to them, these things grow over time. You can accomplish it too if you have the drive and energy of Gautam Adani.
There are several resources at your disposal to help you begin your journey. If you believe in learning and act consistently, you can do anything. Get started by following our blog. 😉
