Gautam Adani loses pole position in net worth to Mukesh Ambani

The Adani family was the fastest gainers among billionaire's for three consecutive years in CY20, CY21 and CY22

A further rout in the share prices of Adani group stocks on Wednesday led to Gautam Adani losing his pole position in India’s billionaires’ list to Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries.

Adani family’s net worth plummeted 14.4 per cent on Wednesday to Rs 7.1 trillion (around $86 billion) from Rs 8.29 trillion ($101 billion) a day before. In comparison, Ambani family’s net worth was down just 0.7 per cent on Wednesday to Rs 7.77 trillion (around $95 billion).

On Wednesday, the 10 Adani group stocks were down in the range of 2.5 per cent (Adani Transmission) to 28.4 per cent (Adani Enterprises).

Other big losers during the day include Adani Ports (-19.7 per cent), Ambuja Cements (-16.6 per cent) and Adani Total Gas (-10 per cent).

With this, the Adani family has lost nearly 38 per cent of its net worth or around $53.4 billion (Rs 4.33 trillion) since publication of the Hindenburg report on January 24.

The Adani family’s net worth is down 40 per cent from Rs 11.79 trillion at the end of December last year to Rs 7.1 trillion on Wednesday.

During the same period, the Ambani family suffered 8.2 per cent decline in its net worth from Rs 8.87 trillion at the end of CY22 to Rs 7.77 trillion on Wednesday.

The Adani family has been the fastest gainer among billionaires for three consecutive years — CY20, CY21 and CY22.

The combined market capitalisation of the 10-listed Adani group companies declined to Rs 11.76 trillion on Wednesday from Rs 19.2 trillion on January 24. It was Rs 19.66 trillion at the end of December 2022.

With this, the shareholders, including promoters, have lost Rs 7.44 trillion (around $91 billion) in various Adani group companies in the last six trading sessions, since publication of the Hindenburg report.