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Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has become the world’s fourth-richest person, moving past Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.
Adani’s net worth surged to $112.5 billion after he added $36 billion to his fortune this year, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed.
The 60-year-old business tycoon, whose interests in India include shipping, ports, power, oil and gas, is looking to expand in the Middle East region as well. Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Co. invested $2 billion in Adani's green energy enterprises. He has also been reported to be exploring potential partnerships with Saudi Arabia, including with the world's largest energy producer Saudi Aramco.
Adani's rival-in-chief in India, Mukesh Ambani, who is chairman of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries, has been pushed lower to the 11th position, after seeing his fortune slip by $2 billion.
Bill Gates is now in the fifth position with a net worth of $112 billion. The philanthropist, who has been donating generously to causes like poverty alleviation and climate change, recently donated another $20 billion to his Gates Foundation.
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with $235.8 billion. Jeff Bezos of Amazon follows with a net worth of $148 billion. France's Bernard Arnault, who is the chairman and CEO of luxury brand LVMH Moët Hennessy–Louis Vuitton, is third with $137 billion.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
