Gautam Adani dubs rich list as media hype, promises editorial independence for NDTV

Gautam Adani, owner of the Adani Group and the world’s third richest man, referred to the list of rich people as “media hype” today and promised editorial independence for NDTV, which his group recently acquired.

“These are all media hypes. I am a first generation entrepreneur who had to build everything from scratch. I get my thrills from handling challenges, and the bigger they are, the happier I am. For me, the opportunity and the ability to make a difference in the lives of people, contribute to the growth and building the nation are far more satisfying and important than being on some wealth ranking or any other valuation lists,” he told India Today in an interview.

Adani doubled his fortune in 2022 to $150 billion to become the richest man in India, and, for a brief period, the second richest person on the planet!

When asked about his group’s controversial acquisition of NDTV, Adani said, “NDTV will be a credible, independent, global network with a clear lakshman rekha between management and editorial.”

Adani Group acquired a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV by buying a company backed by the television network’s founders, Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy. It went on to become the majority shareholder after acquiring more shares from the open market. Later on December 23, NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy said they will sell all but 5 per cent of their remaining shareholding in the news broadcaster to Adani Group for up to Rs 647.6 crore.

Gautam Adani, the richest Asian and the founder chairman of Adani group, last month told the Financial Times that he intends to scale up NDTV to make it an international media group and had asked Prannoy Roy to remain as chair.

NDTV will give Adani Group a footprint in the media space as part of its broader diversification spree that has led to the expansion of the conglomerate beyond coal mining and ports into airports, data centres, cement and digital services.