Gautam Adani: The Ksh.10.5 trillion worth tycoon behind JKIA's lease proposal

As the clamour for greater transparency regarding the proposed public-private partnership between the government of Kenya and Adani Airport Holdings Limited grows, questions around its ownership have arisen. 

The memes abound as Kenyans seek to unmask the person behind Adani Airport Holdings Limited, which has proposed spending USD two billion (approx. Ksh.258 billion) to upgrade Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and operate the facility.

The build, operate, and transfer (BOT) arrangement has roused suspicion due to its origin as a Privately Initiated Proposal rather than a public tender.

As it turns out, the man behind Adani Airport Holdings Limited is Gautam Adani, the head of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group. According to Forbes, he is as rich as Croesus, the last king of Lydia. 

Adani, who dropped out of school at 16, is now the second richest man in Asia and the 21st richest person in the world. According to the Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List, Adani’s net worth is USD 81.4 billion (approx. Ksh.10.5 trillion).

The amount is three times what Kenya had planned to collect in revenue for the 2024/25 financial year.

It was exactly 30 years ago, on September 12, 1994, that Adani Exports launched its Initial Public Offering. The 62-year-old son of a textile merchant was 32 at the time and the seventh of eight children. The conglomerate now boasts extensive business holdings in airports, ports, mining, renewable energy, telecommunications, real estate, commodities trading, and even fast-moving consumer goods in India and Australia.

Adani Airport Holdings Limited, in particular, operates seven airports in India with an eighth in the pipeline.

While Adani could very well be Asia’s richest man and was once the third richest person in the world, the Adani Group faced accusations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud by Hindenburg Research in 2023. As a result, the market value of its publicly traded companies plunged just as they were preparing to launch the largest Follow-on Public Offering in India’s history.

However, the Group vehemently denies the claims of fraud. Adani’s business fortunes have also been criticized by some who attribute his success to his close ties with Narendra Modi and India’s ruling BJP party.