17 April,2026 02:26 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Asia`s richest man: Gautam Adani. File Pic
Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has once again become Asia's richest person, surpassing Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The change at the top reflects ongoing shifts in global wealth rankings amid market volatility and geopolitical tensions.
While Adani's net worth rose to USD 92.6 billion, placing him 19th in the global rankings, Ambani slipped to the 20th spot with a net worth of USD 90.8 billion, news agency IANS reported.
The shift comes after a strong rally in Adani Group stocks, which boosted the entrepreneur's wealth significantly in a short span of a single day.
In Thursday's trading session, the Adani Group companies saw a sharp rise, outperforming broader market indices. This led to an increase of around USD 3.56 billion in the businessman's net worth in just one day.
On Friday too, stocks such as Adani Total Gas, Adani Ports, and Adani Power rose by up to 3 per cent during intra-day trading, further supporting his position.
Apart from Adani and Ambani, several Indian business leaders feature in the global rankings.
Lakshmi Mittal is ranked 62nd with a net worth of USD 36.9 billion, followed by HCL founder Shiv Nadar at 70th with USD 33.5 billion. Shapoor Mistry and family hold the 71st position with USD 33.2 billion, while Savitri Jindal is ranked 73rd with USD 32.7 billion.
Other prominent Indian names on the list include Sunil Mittal, Azim Premji, Kumar Mangalam Birla and Radhakishan Damani, reported the news agency.
Globally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to top the rich list with a massive net worth of USD 656 billion. He is followed by Google co-founder Larry Page at USD 286 billion.
Other prominent names in the top 10 include Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Dell Technologies' Michael Dell, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, and LVMH's Bernard Arnault.
The rankings highlight a broader trend: "Technology entrepreneurs continue to dominate the global rich list," while other sectors are seeing more fluctuations, reported the news agency.
The year 2026 has seen significant ups and downs in billionaire wealth. Notably, seven of the world's top 20 richest individuals have recorded declines in their net worth so far. Bernard Arnault has seen the steepest fall, losing USD 44 billion. Other billionaires such as Steve Ballmer, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Amancio Ortega have also witnessed notable declines.
(With IANS Inputs)
