Gautam Adani Has Many Feathers To His Cap, But Regrets One Thing

From a diamond trader to the world's third richest man, the sexagenarian Gautam Adani has achieved several milestones. But there is one thing that he regrets—dropping out of college to begin his entrepreneurial journey.

"Reflecting on my life and the different turns it took, I now do believe that I would have benefited if I had finished college," Adani said while addressing the students at Vidya Mandir School in Palanpur, Gujarat, on Sunday. "To acquire wisdom, one must experience, but to acquire knowledge, one must study... While my early experiences made me wise, I now realise that formal education rapidly expands one's knowledge."

Billionaire Adani runs a sprawling port-to-energy conglomerate with seven publicly traded companies, 23,000 employees, and a market capitalisation of more than $260 billion.

He dropped out of school when he was 16 and moved to the bustling commercial city of Mumbai to try his hand at diamond trading.

"I still recall the day I did my first trade with a Japanese buyer; I made a commission of Rs 10,000," he said.

However, he returned to Gujarat, his home state, two years later to run his brother's packaging factory.

"And my first real break came in 1985," he said. "While I had no trading experience, I took advantage of the opportunity (liberalization of import policies) and moved to establish a commodity trading organization."

"We started importing polymers to supply the raw material-deprived small-scale industries. This move laid the initial foundation of the global trading business I was soon to build."

The risk-taker Adani diversified into businesses like ports, mines, airports, railways, infrastructure, power, real estate, and, most recently, media, making him one of the most aggressive of the country's new generation of tycoons.

However, the self-made billionaire believes that the pace of expansion would have been faster if he had finished college.

According to Adani, the tough early days that he spent with his parents and being part of a society that stood by each other shaped his beliefs. He has inherited the values of tenacity, courage, trust, and commitment from his parents. "And over time, these beliefs became my values."

"It also drives every action the Adani Group takes as a company," said Adani.

He urged young entrepreneurs to grab opportunities when they come their way. 

"India will be a land full of massive opportunities in the next 30 years," Adani said. "This is your time, and there's no better place than India to be an entrepreneur."

Disclaimer: Adani Enterprises is in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.