Gautam Adani, Asia's Busiest Dealmaker

Gautam Adani started as a diamond trader in Mumbai and made most of his fortune in ports and mines

Gautam Adani overtook Indian compatriot Mukesh Ambani in February to become Asia's richest man. The $49 billion surge in his personal wealth this year has put him ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett as well. Now with a net worth of $125.5 billion-also surpassing Jeff Bezos-Adani is expanding his infrastructure conglomerate. He's been the busiest dealmaker in Asia this year, acquiring assets such as Swiss cement giant Holcim Ltd.'s India units for $10 billion. Seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he made a hostile bid for broadcaster NDTV, one of the few media organizations in India willing to criticize the government. This association has renewed concerns over press freedoms there. Adani Enterprises Ltd. has explained in filings that it intends to bolster NDTV's business and "empower Indian citizens."

A first-generation entrepreneur who dropped out of college, Adani started as a diamond trader in Mumbai and made most of his fortune in ports and mines, with his controversial investment in Australia's Carmichael coal mine making him a target of environmentalists. The stake has also meant that his latest pivot, a pledge to plow $70 billion into green energy, is being scrutinized just as Adani is trying to establish himself more firmly on the global stage. His big bets - in cement and renewable energy, as well as airports and an expanded mining operation - have been funded by huge levels of debt. A unit of rating company Fitch Group Inc. flagged the "elevated" leverage in Adani's business in a September report.