Mukesh Ambani has regained his spot as Asia's richest person after rival Gautam Adani tumbled to No. 24, Forbes said in its Billionaire 2023 list released.
Adani was the world's third-richest person on January 24, when he was worth nearly USD 126 billion. A report issued by US short-seller Hindenburg Research later that day, however, sent his companies shares plummeting, Forbes said.
His net worth is now USD 47.2 billion and is the second richest Indian behind Ambani. With a net worth of USD 83.4 billion, Ambani, 65, was ranked at No. 9 on the world billionaire list. Last year, Ambani's oil-to-telecom behemoth Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to surpass USD 100 billion in revenue, Forbes said.
Two-thirds of the top 25 are poorer than they were last year, compared to around half of the list overall, it said. No one lost more than Jeff Bezos as Amazon shares crashed by 38 per cent. The drop lopped USD 57 billion from Bezos' fortune and knocked him from No. 2 in the world in 2022 to No. 3 this year.
This year's second-biggest loser, Elon Musk, had it worse. He lost his title of world's richest person after his pricey purchase of Twitter, which he funded in part by the sale of Tesla shares, helping to spook investors. Musk, who is worth USD 39 billion less than a year ago, is now No. 2.
The majority of that decline came from one high-profile saga: the stock rout of companies in the Adani Group, following a January report of fraud allegations by short-seller Hindenburg Research (allegations the Adani Group has denied).