<p>Indian industrialist Gautam Adani briefly became the world's second-richest person on the Forbes real-time billionaire tracker on Friday, weeks after becoming the first Asian to break into the top three.</p>.<p>The self-made billionaire's net worth surged $4 billion overnight to $154 billion, according to Forbes, ranking him ahead of LVMH's Bernard Arnault and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.</p>.<p>Tesla founder Elon Musk remained well out in front with a fortune of more than $270 billion.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/adani-eyeing-acquisitions-to-boost-food-business-1145241.html" target="_blank">Adani eyeing acquisitions to boost food business</a></strong></p>.<p>Arnault -- who at times held the top spot in May 2021 -- and Adani traded the number two position during the day as the share prices of their companies fluctuated.</p>.<p>Adani, 60, made his fortune in ports and commodities trading and now operates India's second-largest conglomerate with interests ranging from coal mining and edible oils to airports and news media.</p>.<p>His ballooning net worth reflects a stratospheric rise in the market capitalisation of his publicly listed companies, as investors back the Adani Group's aggressive expansion of old and new businesses.</p>.<p>Shares in the flagship Adani Enterprises -- of which the billionaire owns 75 per cent -- have soared more than 2,700 per cent since March 2020, and doubled in value in the past six months.</p>.<p>Stock price surges in other group companies including Adani Transmission, Adani Power, Adani Ports and Adani Green Energy catapulted Adani past fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani this year.</p>.<p>Analyst estimates indicated the market capitalisation of Adani's seven listed companies also briefly overtook those of the Tata group on Friday morning, making the Adani Group India's largest conglomerate.</p>.<p>Born in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to a middle-class family, Adani dropped out of college to work in the diamond industry before starting his export business in 1988.</p>.<p>In 1995, he won a contract to build and operate a commercial shipping port at Mundra in Gujarat, which has since grown to become India's largest port.</p>.<p>At the same time, Adani expanded into thermal power generation and coal mining in India and overseas.</p>.<p>In recent years, the conglomerate has forayed into petrochemicals, cement, data centres and copper refining, in addition to establishing a renewable energy business with ambitious targets.</p>.<p>Recent investments in Indian news media and a bid for 5G airwaves this year have raised speculation that the billionaire's empire could soon impinge on sectors dominated by Ambani's Reliance Industries.</p>.<p>But Adani's rapid expansion into capital-intensive businesses has also raised financial alarms, with Fitch Group's CreditSights last week reiterating that they "remain concerned over the Adani Group's leverage".</p>
<p>Indian industrialist Gautam Adani briefly became the world's second-richest person on the Forbes real-time billionaire tracker on Friday, weeks after becoming the first Asian to break into the top three.</p>.<p>The self-made billionaire's net worth surged $4 billion overnight to $154 billion, according to Forbes, ranking him ahead of LVMH's Bernard Arnault and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.</p>.<p>Tesla founder Elon Musk remained well out in front with a fortune of more than $270 billion.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/adani-eyeing-acquisitions-to-boost-food-business-1145241.html" target="_blank">Adani eyeing acquisitions to boost food business</a></strong></p>.<p>Arnault -- who at times held the top spot in May 2021 -- and Adani traded the number two position during the day as the share prices of their companies fluctuated.</p>.<p>Adani, 60, made his fortune in ports and commodities trading and now operates India's second-largest conglomerate with interests ranging from coal mining and edible oils to airports and news media.</p>.<p>His ballooning net worth reflects a stratospheric rise in the market capitalisation of his publicly listed companies, as investors back the Adani Group's aggressive expansion of old and new businesses.</p>.<p>Shares in the flagship Adani Enterprises -- of which the billionaire owns 75 per cent -- have soared more than 2,700 per cent since March 2020, and doubled in value in the past six months.</p>.<p>Stock price surges in other group companies including Adani Transmission, Adani Power, Adani Ports and Adani Green Energy catapulted Adani past fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani this year.</p>.<p>Analyst estimates indicated the market capitalisation of Adani's seven listed companies also briefly overtook those of the Tata group on Friday morning, making the Adani Group India's largest conglomerate.</p>.<p>Born in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to a middle-class family, Adani dropped out of college to work in the diamond industry before starting his export business in 1988.</p>.<p>In 1995, he won a contract to build and operate a commercial shipping port at Mundra in Gujarat, which has since grown to become India's largest port.</p>.<p>At the same time, Adani expanded into thermal power generation and coal mining in India and overseas.</p>.<p>In recent years, the conglomerate has forayed into petrochemicals, cement, data centres and copper refining, in addition to establishing a renewable energy business with ambitious targets.</p>.<p>Recent investments in Indian news media and a bid for 5G airwaves this year have raised speculation that the billionaire's empire could soon impinge on sectors dominated by Ambani's Reliance Industries.</p>.<p>But Adani's rapid expansion into capital-intensive businesses has also raised financial alarms, with Fitch Group's CreditSights last week reiterating that they "remain concerned over the Adani Group's leverage".</p>