Gautam Adani Joins The League Of World's Biggest Philanthropists
Billionaire Gautam Adani's charity pledge for social causes will bring him in the league of the world's biggest philanthropists.
Adani, Asia's richest man with a net worth of almost $92 billion, has committed Rs 60,000 crore ($7.7 billion) for education, healthcare and skill development. Going by Hurun's 2021 list, that will make him the third Indian in a global league of wealthy who have committed part of their wealth for charity.
India's Jamsetji Tata, the founder of Tata Group, was ranked the world’s biggest philanthropist of the last century in Hurun's list with an endowment size of more than a $100 billion. That was based on the value of Tata Trusts' current ownership in Tata Sons Pvt., the parent of salt-to-software group. The trusts are now overseen by Ratan Tata.
The only other Indian on that list was Azim Premji at number 12. His Azim Premji Foundation, which supports elementary education system in rural government schools, was valued at $21 billion. The foundation has 67% of economic ownership of software services provider Wipro Ltd.
Based on that list, Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur like Premji, will be the third Indian with his $7.7-billion pledge, ranking alongside Chinese billionaire and Tencent founder Ma Huateng. (To be sure, the valuations would have changed in the past year because of currency movement.)
Adani Group’s philanthropic efforts span healthcare, education, sustainability, community infrastructure and more.
Hurun ranked Bill and Melinda Gates at second position, Warren Buffett at fifth and George Soros at sixth in 2021.
Bill and Melinda Gates, and Buffett created the ‘Giving Pledge’, a movement encouraging billionaires to donate the majority of their wealth to charity. It has 231 signatories now, including Meta Inc. Founder Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk, and India’s Premji.
Disclaimer: Adani Enterprises is in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.
