Gautam Adani

Brief Introduction:
Gautam Shantilal Adani took birth on 24th June 1962 in Ahmedabad. He is an Indian billionaire industrialist. He
is the chairman and founder of Adani Group, an Ahmedabad=based multinational conglomerate involved in port
development and operations in India. He is also the president of Adani Foundation, which is primarily led by his
wife, Priti Adani.

Current Position:
As of November 2022, with a net worth of US$138.1 billion according to Forbes and $133 billion according to
Bloomberg, he is the richest person in Asia and the third richest person in the world.

Education:
Gautam Adani was educated at Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya school in Ahmedabad. He enrolled for a
bachelor’s degree in commerce at Gujarat University, but dropped out after the second year. Adani was keen
on business, but not his father’s textile business.
CAREER:
As a teenager, Adani moved to Mumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers.

In 1981, his elder brother Mahasukhbhai Adani bought a plastics unit in Ahmedabad and invited him to manage
the operations. This venture turned out to be Adani’s gateway to global trading through polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
imports.

In 1985, he started importing primary polymers for small-scale industries. In 1988, Adani established Adani
Exports, now known as Adani Enterprises, the holding company of the Adani Group. Originally, the company
dealt in agricultural and power commodities.

In 1991, the economic liberalization policies turned out to be favorable for his company and he started
expanding the business into trading of metals, textiles, and agro products.

In 1994, the Government of Gujarat announced managerial outsourcing of the Mundra Port and in 1995, Adani
got the contract.

In 1995, he set up the first jetty. Originally operated by Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone, the operations
were transferred to Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ). Today, the company is the largest private multi-port operator.
Mundra Port is the largest private sector port in India, with the capacity of handling close to 210 million tons of
cargo per annum.

In 1996, the power business arm of the Adani Group, Adani Power, was founded by Adani. Adani Power holds
the thermal power plants with a capacity of 4620MW, the largest private thermal power producer of the
country.

In 2006, Adani entered the power generation business. From 2009 to 2012, he acquired Abbot Point Port in
Australia and Carmichael coal mine in Queensland.

In May 2020, Adani won the world’s largest solar bid by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) worth US$6
billion. The 8000MW photovoltaic power plant project will be taken up by Adani Green. Adani Solar will establish
2000MW of additional solar cell and module manufacturing capacity.

In September 2020, Adani acquired a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport, India’s second busiest after
Delhi.

In November 2021, while speaking at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum, Adani said the group is investing
USD%70 billion in a new green energy business. In July 2022, he offered new details on how this investment will
be utilized to build three giant factories – solar, electrolyzer (to make green hydrogen), wind turbine plants.

In February 2022, he became Asia’s richest person, surpassing Mukesh Ambani. In August 2022, he was named
the 3rd richest person in the world by Fortune.

In May 2022, Adani family acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC from Holcim Group for $10.5 billion,
through an overseas special-purpose entity.

In August 2022, AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL), a unit of Adani Group, declared that it planned to buy
RRPR Holding, owner of 29.18% of national news broadcaster NDTV, and made an open offer to buy a further
26%. In a statement, NDTV said that Adani acquired his state via a third party without informing the company’s
founders, former journalist Radhika Roy and her economist husband Prannoy Roy, and that the deal was done
“without discussion, consent or notice.” This bid also raised concern regarding editorial independence in India,
since Adani is considered to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
His Life’s Lesson For All:
If we look into his life, his journey to the top wasn’t easy. He is a self-made billionaire. And to achieve this
position, he had to do struggle like anyone else. But he was also a visionary who has learned in early life to seize
opportunities when it comes. Here are the lessons that one can learn from Gautam Adani’s life.

Understanding The Potential Of An Opportunity Is Important

Adani is a visionary. He realized how important ports are for the growth of an economy. Adani
understood the potential of merchant ports and was successful in establishing a monopoly over the segment.
Today, he is the largest port owner in India, and continues to build new ports in the country and abroad.

Diversification Is The Key

From the beginning, he focused on diversifying his business as the market changed. Starting with
exporting agricultural and power products, he diversified his business to other segments like power generation
and distribution, oil and gas exploration, logistics, port development. He was quick to identify business
opportunities when India’s economic philosophy changed.

He Is Known For His Remarkable Negotiation And Convincing Skills

He once visited the then railway minister, Nitish Kumar, and convinced him to see the importance of
integrating ports to the railway. He successfully convinced the minister to formulate the port-rail linkage policy.
The policy allowed port owners to run their own rail tracks to the nearest railheads.

He Has Never Stopped Learning

He didn’t have sophisticated training from top business schools. He learned the business by observing
trade tricks, which taught him the importance of demand and supply. He is a keen observer who understands
where further demand can arise and believes in seizing the early opportunity.

Adani built a 2km long airstrip in his port, capable of catering to large aircraft. It is the only port in India to have
an airstrip. He has plans to turn it into fully-functional to manage transportation high value, low volume goods
like diamond and pharmaceutical.

Hold Onto Your Values

He is known to be a man of strong values and unbending attitude. He commented on many occasions
that ‘dealing with the government does not mean that you have to give a bribe.’ He had his fair share of rifts
with the government and the court.

Shift Your Focus To Long-Term Value Generation

His strong business sense made him realize the importance of understanding the demand of fellow
industrialists and competitors for long-term prospects and profit. And his learning eventually helped him
establish a monopoly.
“Sometimes reading the stories of successful personalities give us the
direction in life we sought.”