21 Facts About Gautam Adani Who Turned His Ambitions Into Reality

Everyone must have heard about Gautam Shantilal Adani, the business tycoon needs no introduction. He is the founder and chairman of the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate, Adani Group, involved with the port development and operations of India. He is also the founder of the Adani Foundation, led by his wife. There are a lot of interesting facts about Gautam Adani that people are unaware of.

Here are a some lesser-known facts about Gautam Adani that you should know:

1. Gautam Adani was born in Ahmedabad, India on 24 June 1962 in a Jain family that makes Adani’s religion, Jainism.

2. His father, Shantilal Adani, is a textile merchant and his mother is Shantaben Adani

He also has 7 siblings. Their family had moved from the town of Tharad located in the northern part of Gujarat.

3. Gautam Adani was a college dropout

Gautam Adani’s education was mostly done in Gujarat. Mr. Adani’s schooling has been completed at Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya school in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Later on, he enrolled at Gujarat University for a bachelor’s degree in commerce but is said to have dropped out after the second year.

Adani has always been keen on business, but his father’s textile business was not what he had in his mind.

4. Gautam Adani was once abducted and held for a ransom of $1.5 million in 1998.

5. Gautam Adani made his first million at the age of 20

Though he was born into a family that ran a textiles business yet he was interested to go to Mumbai to join the diamond business. He worked with Mahindra Brothers as a diamond sorter for around 2-3 years then he set up his own diamond brokerage and earned his first million.

6. Adani is the owner of one of the costliest residences in the country

Gautam Adani House, a Rs 400-crore property in Delhi, is owned by him. It is known to be one of the expensive homes in Delhi. The Rs 400 crore Aditya Estates Pvt Ltd, currently known as the Adani House, is located near Delhi’s Mandi House.

7. Gautam Adani is one of the survivors of the 26/11 Mumbai Terrorist attacks

On November 26, 2008, Adani was having dinner at the Taj hotel when terrorists attacked. He could only escape when the commandos took control of the place and he was found hiding in the basement before they got there.

8. Mr. Adani Wife and Children

He got married to Priti Adani and has two sons namely, Karan Adani and Jeet Adani. Karan  Adani is currently the CEO of Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd. and a director of Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.

9. Adani’s excellent negotiation skills

Reportedly, Adani cracked a deal of Rs 6,000 crore in just 100 hours. Thanks to Adani’s excellent negotiation skills, Adani Power Limited is known to have cracked a deal to acquire Udupi Power Corporation Limited in just 100 hours in 2018.

10. Gautam Adani is the mastermind behind the port-rail linkage policy

He was the first businessman ever to have thought of the port-rail linkage policy. Adani had approached the then railway minister Nitish Kumar with the idea for the scheme of the port-rail linkage. After that, the port-rail linkage policy had been duly crafted by the government.

11. Adani Group is the owner of India’s largest private port

Adani Group owns and operates the Mundra Port, situated on the shores of the Gulf of Kutch, and is the largest private commercial port in India.

12. Adani Group is reportedly in a huge debt

The combined borrowings of the Adani group stand at Rs 2.21 lakh crore as of 2022, according to reports.

13. Adani Family reportedly to have donated Rs 60,000 crore

On the occasion of the centenary birth anniversary of the father of Gautam Adani, and Gautam’s 60th birthday, the Adani Family has planned to donate Rs 60,000 crore to a range of social causes. This body is to be administered by the Adani Foundation.

14. Gautam Adani’s relation with Narendra Modi

Adani was accused of supporting the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in his campaigns during the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections by providing chartered planes for the protests and rallies.

15. Is Adani Group buying NDTV?

AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL) during August 2022, which is a unit of Adani Group, had declared that it planned to buy RRPR Holding which is the owner of 29.18% of national news broadcaster NDTV, reportedly he also made an open offer to buy a further 26%.

As per NDTV’s statement, Adani acquired his stake via a third party and this was done without informing the company’s founders. This bid has raised a great deal of concern about editorial independence in India, as Adani is considered to be close to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

16. Adani Group’s contribution during the pandemic

In March 2020, to fight the Coronavirus outbreak, Gautam Adani contributed ₹100 crores (US$13 million) to the PM Cares Fund through the Adani group’s philanthropy arm.

A contribution of an additional ₹5 crores (US$630,000) was also made to the Gujarat CM Relief Fund and ₹1 crore (US$130,000) to the Maharashtra CM Relief Fund.

 

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17. Adani Group’s Philanthropist Arm

Adani Group also played a major role in the import of four ISO cryogenic tanks filled with 80 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to Mundra in Gujarat, to tackle the worsening Covid situation in the country.

The group also ended up securing a further 5,000 medical-grade oxygen cylinders from Linde Saudi Arabia. Adani group had supplied 1,500 cylinders with medical oxygen to wherever they were needed in the Kutch district of Gujarat.

18. Gautam Adani’s rise in wealth

Within just one year (2021-22), Adani was able to add $72.5 billion to his wealth. As per the 2022 M3M Hurun Global Rich List, Adani’s wealth increased by $49 billion in 2021, and as per a Bloomberg report, in 2022, it went on to increase by $23.5 billion.

19. Gautam Adani’s net worth

According to a report by Bloomberg, Adani’s net worth is US$133 billion and according to Forbes, it is $138.1 billion. Currently, he is the richest person in Asia and the third richest person in the world.

20. Adani Sportsline offers global exposure to deserving sportspersons

The Kabaddi team Gujarat Giants is owned by Adani Wilmar Ltd.

21. Gautam Adani made history by getting his hands on two cement manufacturers Ambuja Cement and ACC cement which makes the Adani Group India’s 2nd largest cement manufacturer.