Gautam Adani reclaims India's richest title from Mukesh Ambani post-verdict

Reliance Group's combined market-cap at Rs 18.97 trillion, however, is way ahead of Adani Group's Rs 15.1 trillion

The ten listed Adani group companies added around Rs 64,500 crore to their market capitalisation on Wednesday, thanks to a rally in their share price post the Supreme Court judgment on a batch of petitions seeking a fresh probe on the Hindenburg report allegations against the conglomerate. 

As a result, the combined market capitalisation of Adani group companies increased to Rs 15.11 trillion on Wednesday, up from Rs 14.47 trillion a day earlier. And, thanks to these gains, Gautam Adani's family raced ahead of Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, reclaiming the title of India’s wealthiest promoter.

Gautam Adani family’s net worth increased to Rs 9.37 trillion ($112.5 billion) on Wednesday, up from Rs 8.98 trillion ($107.7 billion) a day before. In comparison, Mukesh Ambani family’s net worth was down marginally to Rs 9.28 trillion ($111.4 billion) from Rs 9.38 trillion ($112.5 billion) during this period.

The combined market capitalisation of Reliance Industries and Jio Financial Services – two listed group companies directly owned and controlled by the Mukesh Ambani family – was down 1.0 per cent Wednesday to Rs 18.97 trillion from Rs 19.17 trillion on Tuesday.

Other listed companies in the Mukesh Ambani group such as Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy, Network 18 Media, TV18 Broadcast, Just Dial, Hathway Cable and Den Networks among others are subsidiaries and associates of Reliance Industries and changes in their share price and market capitalisation have no bearing on promoter's net worth.

In contrast, in the Adani group, all listed companies are directly owned and controlled by the promoter family with no cross holding between the listed firms, except in the case of Ambuja Cements which has controlling stake in ACC. Gautam Adani family directly owns 6.6 per cent stake in ACC.

Besides, the Adani family’s stake is significantly higher in Adani group companies – from a low of 37.4 per cent in Adani Total Gas to a high of 72.6 per cent in Adani Enterprises. On average, the family owns 62 per cent stake in group listed companies. This translates into higher promoter net worth for Adani family for every dollar worth of group companies’ market capitalisation.

In contrast, the Mukesh Ambani family owns 49.11 per cent stake in Reliance Industries and 46.77 per cent in Jio Financial Services.

In Adani group, Adani Energy Solutions was the biggest gainer on Wednesday with 11.6 per cent rise in its market capitalisation during the day. It was followed by Adani Total Gas up 9.8 per cent and Adani Green Energy that was up 6 per cent during the day.

In comparison, both Reliance Industries and Jio Financial Services saw a decline in their share price and market capitalisation on Wednesday tracking the decline in the broader markets. The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 0.75 per cent on Wednesday.