Despite Wealth Gap, Gautam Adani Overtakes Mukesh Ambani In List Of Top 100 Influential Indians

New Delhi: The Indian Express has released its list of the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Indians of 2024’, with a notable shift in the business sector. Gautam Adani, the Chairman of the Adani Group, has surpassed Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries, in the rankings.

The Indian Express list of the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Indians of 2024’ was released on Thursday. This list encompasses influential figures from various domains such as politics, business, entertainment, and sports.

Adani, 61, has secured the 10th position on the list, one spot ahead of Ambani. This is a significant leap for Adani, who has climbed 33 spots since the previous year. The Indian Express attributed Adani’s rise to his leadership in various infrastructure sectors, including cement, power, airports, green energy, ports, and gas distribution, through acquisitions and greenfield projects.

Adani, with a net worth of $101 billion, is the second richest Indian, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI). Despite facing allegations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation by Hindenburg Research, the Adani Group has recovered, and its stocks have regained their losses.

Adani’s conglomerate has announced plans for a Rs 7 lakh crore investment in airports, green energy, ports, and power sectors, as well as a foray into the news and media space.

Ambani, on the other hand, has secured the 11th spot on the list. The Indian Express acknowledged Ambani’s efforts to strengthen the conglomerate through investments in new energy, reorganization, and succession planning. RIL, under Ambani’s leadership, is also backing BharatGPT and is set to launch its Hanooman AI model for India.

Ambani, with a net worth of $109 billion, is the richest Indian, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Reliance is the most-valued listed company in India and its market capitalization touched Rs 20 lakh crore earlier this month.