India’s Mukesh Ambani lost the title of Asia’s richest man after almost a year. He has been replaced by Gautam Adani who once again became Asia’s richest man after cracking a deal worth over half a billion dollars for the Adani group.
It should be noted that in January 2023, American short-selling company Hindenburg said in a report that Adani Group has been involved in stock market manipulation and fraud accounting for decades. It called Gautam Adani the biggest fraudster in corporate history.
Gautam Adani’s wealth declined after the report, pushing him to the bottom of the list of the world’s richest people in 2023, while Mukesh Ambani took the title of Asia’s richest person.
But in recent days, the Supreme Court of India has issued an order that there is no need for a new investigation on Hindenburg’s allegations. Gautam Adani’s assets consequently increased and now he has once again become the richest man in Asia.
According to a Bloomberg report on January 4, Gautam Adani’s net worth increased by $7.7 billion to $97.6 billion, after which he overtook Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest man. Ambani currently owns $97 billion.
Gautam Adani started 2023 as the third richest person in the world with $119 billion and then went down after a steady decline in wealth. Now, a year later, he has become the richest person in Asia and the 12th richest person in the world.
Syed Mohammad Ali wrote in an article for The Express Tribune that the deal with the USA is part of the greater scheme of countering China’s growing influence in the region. Half a billion dollars is a sign of the restoration of confidence for the Adani conglomerate-backed Colombo seaport project in Sri Lanka.
“This American deal with Adani seems compelled by growing great power competition across South Asia. The US government intends to use its International Development Finance Corporation to counter the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative in the Indo-Pacific, and its investment in Sri Lanka is part of that plan,” asserts Ali.
Adani is closely linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he has long been accused of benefitting from this friendship for the growth of his business. Like Modi, Adani has emerged unscathed from a potentially devastating storm of alleged wrongdoings. And both these men have the US to thank for helping them not only survive but thrive, due to America’s own vested interests, Ali explains.
