Ambani and Adani retire: Indian billionaires leave elite $100 billion club

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, and Gautam Adani, founder of the Adani Group, have dropped out of the elite $100 billion club, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This comes as both Ambani and Adani have faced challenges affecting both their businesses and personal wealth.

Ambani’s retail and energy businesses have underperformed and there has also been investor concern about debt. According to Bloomberg, Ambani’s wealth peaked at around $120.8 billion in July, around the time the Ambanis hosted the $600 million Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding.

The country’s richest man is betting on strategic change to focus more on digital platforms, retail brands and renewable energy to drive the conglomerate’s growth, according to the report. But sales and profit growth has slowed in the retail business.

Meanwhile, Adani has become embroiled in regulatory issues. The empire was recently rocked by a US Justice Department investigation that accused the company of alleged bribery. They accused Gautam Adani, his nephew and CEO Sagar Adani and AGEL managing director Vneet S Jaain of being part of a scheme to pay bribes to secure Indian power supply contracts and of misleading US investors. This is the second major blow to the conglomerate that has been trying to shore up investor confidence after Hindenburg Research accused the group of financial irregularities.

Adani, whose fortune peaked at $122.3 billion in June, has denied all charges and vowed to keep fighting. He had strengthened his finances after the Hindenburg attack, but the US accusations again took their toll.

Reliance shares have fallen 3.43 per cent so far in 2024, against a rise of 11.93 per cent in the benchmark BSE Sensex, while Adani Group shares also came under pressure. strong selling pressure following accusations by US authorities.