Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who is currently the third-richest person in the world with a net worth of $119 billion, might overtake Elon Musk in the next few weeks to claim the title of the second-richest person in the world.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has seen his wealth fall from $340 billion in November 2021 to $128 billion today.
Conversely, Gautam Adani, described by Bloomberg as “Asia’s busiest dealmaker,” is the only individual in the top 10 of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index that witnessed a significant increase in his net worth last year.
Gautam versus Elon: In just one year, Gautam Adani’s net worth rose sharply after adding $44 billion to $119 billion. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s fortune decreased by $133 billion.
- While Adani reportedly increased his wealth by $0.12 billion daily in 2022, Elon Musk lost an average of $0.36 billion daily.
- If Gautam Adani’s wealth continues to grow at this rate in 2023, he might surpass the Tesla CEO in just a matter of weeks.
- Sadly for Elon Musk, the challenges facing his net worth have persisted as Tesla stock continues to tank, dropping −15.08 (12.24%) to $108.10 during the first trading day of 2023.
Gautam Adani’s wealth: He owns almost 75% stakes in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power and Adani Transmissions, according to September 2022 stock exchange filings.
He also owns about 37% of Adani Total Gas, 66% of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone and 61% of Adani Green Energy. All of these companies are publicly traded and based in Ahmedabad, India. The shares are held by promoter groups, which include family members and holding companies that are credited to Adani to reflect his status as the founder.
Elon Musk’s ‘fall from grace’: In 2021, Elon Musk’s net wealth exceeded $300 billion as a result of the surge in Tesla stock price amid the easy money epidemic.
In October 2021, Tesla’s market cap crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time, placing the firm on par with Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Amazon.com Inc.
- Tesla stock has since experienced a significant fall, though. As rivals catch up, Tesla’s leadership in electric vehicles, which served as the basis for its high valuation, is now in peril. Musk has also been busy with Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion last year, while the pressure on Tesla grows.
- Tesla shares are no longer Musk’s largest asset, per Bloomberg’s wealth index, after the stock plunged 65% in 2022, and Musk sold so many of them to pay for his purchase of Twitter.
- SpaceX, which Musk owns in a closely held company, is worth $44.8 billion, which is more than his about $44 billion investment in Tesla stock (he still has options worth an estimated $27.8 billion).
- With the decline in Musk’s wealth, Frenchman Bernard Arnault, whose business LMVH offers high society Louis Vuitton luggage, Christian Dior Couture, Tiffany jewellery, and Dom Pérignon champagne, rose to the position of being the richest person in the world with a net worth of $162 billion.