Gautam Adani could soon replace Jeff Bezos as world’s 2nd richest person

India's richest person and Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani could soon overthrow Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world's second richest person. The difference between the net worth of the two billionaires is now just $3 billion after Bezos lost $9.84 billion (nearly Rs 80,000 crore) in a day.

The difference between Adani and Bezos's fortunes halved in just a week as they were nearly $6 billion apart last Wednesday (7 September), reports Times Now.

America's richest billionaires' net worth including that of Bezos and the world's richest person Elon Musk plunged on Tuesday as higher-than-expected US inflation data roiled Wall Street. Tesla CEO Musk's net worth dropped by $8.4 billion (around Rs 70,000 crore). Adani, on the other hand, added $1.58 billion on the same day to his fortune taking his total wealth to $147 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk's net worth now stands at $256 billion, Bezos' net worth at $ 150 billion while Adani's at $147 billion, taking him even closer to the second spot on the coveted rich list.

Adani is moving fast in the list of the world's rich. In February this year, he became the richest man in Asia, overtaking Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. Two month later in April, Adani's net worth crossed $100 billion and in July, he surpassed Microsoft's Bill Gates to become the fourth richest man in the world.

On August 30, he moved up further to the third place becoming the first Asian to bag a spot in the top three of the index. He beat French businessman Bernard Arnault to become the third richest man.

Meanwhile, the Adani Group chairman's net worth has risen by $70.3 billion this year, led by a jump in oil and natural gas prices. Separately, ET reported recently that the value of Adani's holdings in Adani Group companies jumped $112 billion in the past two years, and his net worth soared 365 per cent in the past two years from $30.7 billion to $142.7 billion, moving up from 40th to the 3rd spot on the Bloomberg ranking of top billionaires in the world during this period.