Gautam Adani has once again become the richest person in Asia after the stock prices of the listed companies in his conglomerate surged, overtaking Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries.

With a net worth of $111 billion, Mr. Adani is now ranked as the 11th richest person in the world, ahead of Mr. Ambani, whose wealth of $109 billion places him at No. 12, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The surge in Adani Group stocks has been a key factor in this change. Shares of all Adani Group companies rose by up to 14 per cent after U.S.

brokerage Jefferies expressed a bullish view on the group, which is planning a $90 billion capital expenditure over the next decade. In 2022, Mr Adani became Asia’s richest man as his wealth continued to grow despite a period of slowing global economic growth.

However, in January 2023, a damning report by prominent short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged that Mr Adani’s business empire was built through fraud. This led to a sharp drop in stock prices, causing his group to lose $150 billion in market value at its lowest point and pushing him out of the world’s top 20 billionaires.

Mr Ambani regained the title of Asia’s richest person at that time. The Adani Group denied all allegations and implemented a comeback strategy, which included reducing debt, lowering founder share pledges, and focusing on core business areas.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bernard Arnault is currently the world’s wealthiest person with a net worth of $207 billion, followed by Elon Musk with $203 billion, and Jeff Bezos with $199 billion.