BUSINESS conglomerate Adani Group’s chairman Gautam Adani is now the world’s second-richest person after overtaking Louis Vuitton’s Bernard Arnault, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List.

At the time of writing this report, Gautam Adani’s net worth was USD 153.9 billion, compared to Arnault’s net worth of USD 153.7 billion. Adani is now just behind business magnate Elon Musk, according to Forbes’ data. Elon Musk’s net worth is way higher at USD 273.5 billion. India’s Mukesh Ambani is at number eight with a total net worth of USD 91.9 billion.

Gautam Adani is a first-generation entrepreneur and the Adani Group comprises 7 publicly listed entities with businesses spanning energy, ports and logistics, mining and resources, gas, defence and aerospace and airports. The Group has established a leadership position in India in each of its business areas.

The Adani Group is the third largest conglomerate (after Reliance Industries and the Tata Group) in India.

Listed Adani group companies are Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Power, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Transmission. Over the past 5 years, flagship company Adani Enterprises has invested heavily in new growth sectors that include airports, cement, copper refining, data centres, green hydrogen, petrochemical refining, roads and solar cell manufacturing.

Looking ahead, it plans to foray into the telecom space and has massive plans to grow its green hydrogen and airports businesses. Recently, the Group also announced plans to set up a 4.1 mtpa integrated alumina refinery and a 30 mtpa iron ore beneficiation plant in Odisha that could cost over Rs 580 billion.