Indian business magnate Gautam Adani has overtaken the fortune of Bill Gates to become the fourth richest man in the world while his compatriot Mukesh Adani lies far behind him. The surge in the rank has showcased Adani's empire is growing at a skyrocketing pace as his fortune is on the rise every year. The surge has come after Adani announced that his group has won the tender for the privatisation of a port in Israel in partnership with Gadot.

According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list, Gautam Adani (60) has become the first Indian to beat Bill Gates and as of Thursday - July 21, Adani's net worth reached $115.5 billion while Bill Gates's net worth stands at $104.6 billion. While Tesla's founder Elon Musk is in the first place with $235.8 billion, India's Mukesh Ambani has been spotted at the 10th rank in the list with $90 billion.

Earlier, while Adani surpassed Ambani, Bloomberg said, "Some of Adani Group's listed stocks have soared more than 600% in the past two years on bets his push into green energy and infrastructure will pay off as PM Modi looks to revive the $2.9 trillion economy and meet India's carbon net-zero target by 2070." "In barely three years, Adani has gained control of seven airports and almost a quarter of India's air traffic. His group now owns the country's largest airport operator, power generator, and city gas retailer in the non-state sector", it added. 

Adani has on Thursday said that the group has won the tender for the privatisation of a port in Israel in partnership with Gadot. It has been reported that the port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international ports. Another factor for his surge in the ranking is the downfall of Bill Gates's ranking after he announced that he would be donating $20 billion from his wealth to his non-profit. 

After winning the tender from Israel, Adani took to Twitter and wrote, "Delighted to win the tender for the privatisation of the port of Haifa in Israel with our partner Gadot. Immense strategic and historical significance for both nations." On the other hand, a unit of Adani's flagship Adani Enterprise Ltd has also applied to participate in the July 26 auction of the 5G spectrum. 

According to the data from the Department of Telecommunications, Adani Data Networks showed a net worth of Rs 248.35 crore in its application to participate in the auction at the close of application on July 8. It is pertinent to note that in May 2022, Adani made a big entry into cement when he won the race to acquire Swiss giant Holcim's cement business in India for $10.5 billion. Recently, Adani has pledged to donate Rs 60,000 crore to a range of social causes on his 60th birthday.