Gautam Adani

Gautam Adani is an Indian business tycoon who founded the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. Founded in 1988, the company is today a major player in coal trading, coal mining, oil & gas exploration, ports, multi-modal logistics, and power generation among others. Born into a business family, he undoubtedly inherited his forefathers’ business acumen but did not develop any interest in the family’s textile business. Ambitious as a young man, he dropped out of school and moved to Mumbai from Ahmedabad to seek his fortunes. He ventured into diamond brokering where he found great success within years and was soon a millionaire. He returned home on the behest of his brother to help him run a small plastics factory. An entrepreneur at heart, he eventually set up his own business, Adani Enterprises, which became the Adani Group’s flagship company. Initially dealing in export and import of commodities, the business soon expanded to encompass coal mining, ports, power generation, Agri Infrastructure, edible oil & transmission and gas distribution, among other ventures. He is known for being a risk taker whose business strategy revolves heavily around excessive leverage and political patronage. His phenomenal success as a first generation entrepreneur often leads to comparisons with another Gujarati entrepreneur, Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries.