Stock rally puts Gautam Adani back in world's 20 richest billionaires list

Led by a $6.5 billion surge in personal net worth on Tuesday, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, is back in the top 20 of the world's richest list and is now ranked 19th globally. Adani is also now India's second richest with a net worth of $66.7 billion as of Tuesday, per the Bloomberg Rich List, while Mukesh Ambani, chair of Reliance Industries, is ranked number one in India and number 13 in the world with a net worth of $89.5 billion.

The net worth of Adani, however, is still lower by $53.8 billion or 44 per cent on a year-to-date basis after an unsubstantiated report by the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research resulted in the group's stock crashing in January. The group stocks have recovered since the report was made public in January this year - just a few days before a share sale by Adani Enterprises.

The group's spectacular comeback is attributed to promoters selling their shares in the listed entities to foreign investors and reducing their personal debt. Some of the group companies like Adani Ports & SEZ also used the cash to reduce debt on their own books.

The group stocks surged since Monday after the Supreme Court reserved its judgement on the charges made by the Hindenburg report and the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), saying that it has completed its investigations in 22 out of 24 cases. Investors were enthused by the fact that there were no adverse reports against the Adani group.