Gautam Adani suffers second-biggest wealth decline after Elon Musk, faces US fraud charges
Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, has recorded the second-largest decline in wealth this year, trailing only Tesla founder Elon Musk, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Adani, currently ranked 23rd on the index, has seen his net worth fall by $11.9 billion to $66.8 billion.
In comparison, Musk’s wealth has decreased by $35.2 billion, bringing his total to $397 billion.
Musk’s financial standing had previously surged, primarily due to the rising valuations of his companies and his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under former US President Donald Trump’s administration.
US fraud allegations against Adani
Meanwhile, Adani and executives from Adani Green Energy have been indicted in New York on allegations of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud.
US prosecutors claim that between 2020 and 2024, Adani, along with associates including his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, paid over $250 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure solar energy contracts that generated $2 billion in profits.
Additionally, prosecutors allege that Adani Green Energy raised over $3 billion in loans and bonds during the same period by providing false and misleading statements.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, with US authorities seeking international cooperation for enforcement.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed related civil charges.
In response, the Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and stated that it will pursue "all possible legal remedies."
Wealth trends among Indian billionaires
Among other Indian billionaires, Mukesh Ambani, ranked 17th on the list, saw his net worth decline by $2.9 billion to $87.7 billion.
HCLTech’s Shiv Nadar faced a $4.53 billion drop, bringing his total wealth to $38.6 billion.
Global billionaire rankings
Elon Musk remains the world’s richest individual with a net worth of $397 billion. He is followed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at $245 billion and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at $243 billion.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison ranks fourth with a net worth of $200 billion, while LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault is fifth at $195 billion.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates follows in sixth place with a fortune of $169 billion.
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