Bengaluru: As reported by Economic Times, Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani group took the spot of Asia’s second richest man from China’s Zhong Shanshan.

Adani is just behind Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani whose total net worth stood at around $76 billion.

Adani’s wealth rose by $625 million today to $66.5 billion, as per data available on the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. At the same time, Shanshan’s wealth dropped by $78 million to $63.6 billion. Adani’s wealth has soared over $32 billion in 2021 so far, the third highest wealth surge this year after Bernard Arnault and Miriam Adelson.

Most of Adani’s wealth is locked up in his Group’s holdings in several publicly listed Group companies such as Adani Enterprises, Adani Green, Adani Total Gas, Adani Power, Adani Gas and Adani Transmission.

The commodity trader turned industrial tycoon today owns some of the biggest and most important infrastructure projects in the country including the majority of its ports, and some of the busiest airports in the country including the Mumbai International Airport.

Adani Group companies have been on an acquisition spree, utilizing the depressed asset valuations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Group’s renewable energy arm Adani Green has recently entered a deal to buy Softbank-backed SB Energy at a valuation of $3.5 billion.

Similarly, Adani Ports has been acquiring ports on the eastern and western shores of the country and currently controls more than 25 per cent of the country’s seaborne cargo, according to an ICRA report.

Shares of the group company have risen anywhere between 200 per cent and 1,100 per cent over the past 12 months, reflecting the investors’ optimism for Adani Group’s strategy, the website added.