Even the Richest Man in Asia, Gautam Adani Has Regrets

Regret not completing college education: Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man

Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, regrets not completing his college education and dropping out

Regrets not competing a college degree

He dropped out of formal education at the age of 16 in 1978 to take a train to Mumbai to try his luck and three years later made his first killing—a Rs 10,000 commission doing a diamond trade with a Japanese buyer.

That marked the beginning of the entrepreneurial journey of Gautam Adani, now Asia’s richest man. He, however, regrets not finishing college, saying early experiences made him wise but formal education rapidly expands one’s knowledge.

“A question I often get is if I have any regrets that I did not go to college. Reflecting on my life and the different turns it took, I – now – do believe that I would have benefited if I had finished college. While my early experiences made me wise, I now realize that formal education rapidly expands one’s knowledge,” said Adani.

Adani further added that to acquire knowledge, one must focus on their studies. “To acquire wisdom, one must experience but to acquire knowledge, one must study,” he stated.

“And although I will never really know, I do reflect at times that the expansion in my abilities may have been faster had I gone to college,” Adani further stated.

Adani group continued to grow and today it is the world’s largest solar power company and will be the world’s largest renewable company by 2030. It is the largest airport operator in India with 25 percent of passenger traffic and 40 percent of air cargo.

It is the largest ports and logistics company in India with a 30 percent national market share. It is also India’s largest integrated energy player, spanning electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, LNG and LPG terminals, city gas, and piped gas distribution.

Adani group is the country’s second-largest cement manufacturer and the highest-valued FMCG company following the IPO of Adani Wilmar.

“We have declared our path forward in new sectors that include data centers, super apps, industrial clouds, aerospace and defense, metals, and petrochemicals,” he said.

Adani also said India will be a land of massive opportunities over the next 30 years and this is the time to dream big.

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