Coal magnate Gautam Adani surpasses Mukesh Ambani as Asia's richest person

Some of Adani Group's listed stocks have soared more than 600% in the past two years on bets his push into green energy and infrastructure will pay off.

Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire who turned a small commodities trading business into a conglomerate spanning ports, mines and green energy, is now Asia’s richest person.

The 59-year-old mogul’s net worth reached $88.5 billion on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, eclipsing fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani’s $87.9 billion. With an almost $12 billion jump in his personal fortune, Adani is the world’s biggest wealth-gainer this year.

The coal magnate--whose controversial Australian mine project drew flak from climate activists including Greta Thunberg--has increasingly looked beyond the fossil fuel for expansion. He’s moving into renewable energy, airports, data centers and defense