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Gautam Shantilal Adani () (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India. As of September 2025, Adani is ranked as the second richest person in India and 29th in the world, with a net worth of $64 billion. In 2022, Time magazine included him in the 100 most influential people in the world.
As a teenager, Adani moved to Mumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers. In 1981, Adani managed his elder brother's plastic unit in Ahmedabad which was his gateway to global trading through polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports and establishing the Adani Group in 1988.
Adani has been described as being close to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government which has led to allegations of cronyism. In January 2023, the American short selling activist firm Hindenburg Research accused Adani of stock manipulation and fraud. In January 2024, the Supreme Court resolved the Adani Group stocks dispute arising from Hindenburg Research's allegations and dismissed requests for an SIT or CBI investigation. As of October 2023, Adani's fortune is estimated at $54.2 billion and ranked 23rd on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list.
On 20 November 2024, a five-count criminal indicment by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, New York charged Adani and executives for five criminal counts of bribery. Adani is alleged to have paid over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure contracts in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, and Tamil Nadu.
Adani was educated at Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya school in Ahmedabad, but dropped out when he was 16. Adani was keen on business, but not his father's Textile industry.
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 February 2022, he became Asia's richest person, surpassing Mukesh Ambani, and in August 2022, he was named the 3rd richest person in the world by Fortune.
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 210.150 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 thermal power plants with a capacity of 4620MW, the largest private thermal power producer of the country.
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 May 2022, Adani family acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC from Swiss building materials giant 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 stake 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. By December 2022, Adani was described as controlling the largest shareholding in NDTV. The Economist said that before Adani bought NDTV, the news channel was "critical of the government but is now supine."
In 2025, Gautam Adani attended the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj with his family, including his wife, Priti Adani. During the event, the Adani Group collaborated with ISKCON to organize Mahaprasad Seva, an initiative that provided free meals to devotees throughout the festival, which took place from January 13 to February 26, 2025.
In 2012, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) filed a charge sheet against twelve accused including Adani for cheating & criminal conspiracy related to the purchase and sale of shares. According to SFIO, Adani Agro allegedly provided funds and shares for running illegal activities. A local court in Mumbai discharged Adani & others accused of this case in May 2014. However, in 2020, a Mumbai sessions court overturned the clean chit to Adani in this case.
The Adani Group said that the Hindenburg Research report was "malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale" information, and that they were "evaluating the relevant provisions under U.S. and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research". Reuters reported that it was unlikely that the Adani Group would sue Hindenburg in the U.S. because American courts usually regard financial analysis as protected opinion under American free speech laws. The Adani Group published a 413-page rebuttal to the claims by Hindenburg Research.
As a result of the indictments, Kenya canceled over US$2.5 billion in regards to the takeover of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and other energy deals. There were concerns in Kenya that they could be liable for breach of contract costs.
Adani and Modi have both denied allegations of cronyism. The Economist has described Adani as "a master operator", skilled at "navigating the complicated legal and political landscape of Indian capitalism," although the magazine cautions that his firm is known for its "Byzantine" structure and opaque finances.
The Resurgent Group of Gujarat (RGG) was founded as a rival organisation by local businessmen with Adani as its chairman, after leaders of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) criticized Modi's management of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In January 1998, Adani and an associate, Shantilal Patel, were allegedly abducted and held hostage for ransom. Two former gangsters Fazl-ur-Rehman and Bhogilal Darji, were accused of the kidnapping. They were acquitted in an Indian court in 2018, after Adani and Patel did not show up for depositions, despite multiple summons by the court.
Adani was in the restaurant of Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai having dinner with the CEO of Dubai Ports at 21:50 on 26 November 2008 when the hotel was attacked by terrorists. The terrorists were only away from them. Adani hid in the hotel kitchen and later in the toilet and came out safely at 08:45 the next day.
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