Ambani and Adani withdraw: Indian billionaires withdraw from elite $100 billion club

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, and Gautam Adani, founder of Adani Group, have withdrawn from the elite club worth $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This comes at a time when both Ambani and Adani have faced challenges that have affected their businesses as well as their personal fortunes.

Ambani’s energy and retail businesses underperformed, and investors were concerned about debt as well. According to Bloomberg, Ambani’s wealth peaked at around $120.8 billion in July, around the time the Ambani family hosted Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s $600 million wedding.

The country’s richest man is counting on a strategic shift to focus more on digital platforms, retail brands and renewable energy to drive the group’s growth, according to the report. But sales and profit growth have slowed in retail.

Meanwhile, Adani was embroiled in regulatory issues. The empire was recently rocked by an investigation by the US Department of Justice that accused the company of alleged bribery. They accused Gautam Adani, his nephew and CEO Sagar Adani, and AGEL’s managing director, Vineet S. Jain, of being part of a scheme to pay bribes to secure Indian power supply contracts and mislead American investors. This is the second major blow to the group that has been trying to boost investor confidence after Hindenburg Research accused the group of committing financial crimes.

Adani, whose wealth peaked at $122.3 billion in June, denied all accusations and vowed to keep fighting. He had strengthened his finances after the Hindenburg attack, but American claims were taking their toll again.

Reliance shares are down 3.43 per cent in 2024 so far against an 11.93 per cent rise in the benchmark BSE Sensex, while Adani Group shares were also under intense selling pressure following the US authorities’ allegations.