Gautam Adani

Gautam Shantilal Adani (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian billionaire industrialist, who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India. Adani has been described as being close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government. This has led to allegations of cronyism, as his firms have won many energy and infrastructure contracts in India and abroad after Modi became the Prime Minister of India. In January 2023, following accusations of stock manipulation and fraud by American short selling activist firm Hindenburg Research, Adani's and his family's fortune has plummeted by over 50% to an estimated US$54.2 billion, as of October 2023, while falling to the 23rd place on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list. Times Magazine included him in the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. Early life Adani was born on 24 June 1962 in a Gujarati Jain family to Shantilal Adani (father) and Shantaben Adani (mother) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He has 7 siblings. His parents had migrated from the town of Tharad in the northern part of Gujarat. His father was a small textile merchant.