Gautam Adani loses $11.9 bn, trails Musk in 2025's biggest wealth falls

Gautam Adani, now 23rd on the index, saw his net worth drop $11.9 billion to $66.8 billion, while Elon Musk faced a larger $35.2 billion decline, bringing his total wealth down to $397 billion

Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, has experienced the second-largest decline in wealth this year, trailing only Tesla founder Elon Musk, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.  

 

Currently positioned 23rd on the index, Adani’s net worth has dropped by $11.9 billion, bringing it down to $66.8 billion. In comparison, Musk’s fortune has seen a more substantial decline of $35.2 billion, reducing his total wealth to $397 billion.  

 

Musk’s financial standing had previously surged, largely attributed to the rising valuations of his companies and his leadership in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under US President Donald Trump’s administration.  

 

Meanwhile, in a legal development, Adani and executives from Adani Green Energy have been indicted in New York over allegations of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud. According to US prosecutors, between 2020 and 2024, Adani, along with associates including his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, allegedly paid over $250 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure solar energy contracts that yielded $2 billion in profits.  

 

Additionally, prosecutors claim that Adani Green Energy raised over $3 billion in loans and bonds during the same period by making false and misleading statements. Arrest warrants have been issued for both Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, with US authorities seeking international cooperation for enforcement. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also taken interest, filing related civil charges.  

 

In response, the Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as ‘baseless’ and stated that it will pursue ‘all possible legal remedies’.

 

Among other Indian billionaires, Mukesh Ambani, ranked 17th on the list, saw his net worth decrease by $2.9 billion to $87.7 billion. Similarly, HCLTech’s Shiv Nadar faced a $4.53 billion decline, bringing his total wealth to $38.6 billion.  

 

According to the index, Elon Musk remains the world’s richest individual, holding a net worth of $397 billion. He is followed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune stands at $245 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranks third with a net worth of $243 billion.

 

Oracle’s founder and largest shareholder, Larry Ellison, takes the fourth spot with a net worth of $200 billion, while LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault ranks fifth at $195 billion. Bill Gates follows in sixth place with a fortune of $169 billion.