Almost a week after a feared short-seller put his company in its sights, Gautam Adani is just a few billion dollars away from losing his title as Asias richest person.
As of Jan. 30, Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, is now the worlds 11th-richest man, with a fortune of $84.4 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Thats a huge drop from the $121 billion fortune he was estimated to have at the beginning of the year (which put Adani in third place, behind LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and Tesla CEO Elon Musk).
Even worse, fellow Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, is right behind Adani in 12th place, with a fortune of $82.2 billion. If Adanis fortune continues to drop, he risks losing the position of Asias richest person to Ambani.
The two Indian billionaires are rivals, competing in sectors like energy, consumer goods, media, and even cricket.
Rise and fall
Adanis wealth surged in 2022 due to an increase in share price in Adani Group companies. Shares in commodity trader Adani Enterprises, the Groups flagship company, rose by over 225% over 2022, while shares in Adani Power rose by 300% over the same period.
The plunge in Adanis net worth follows last weeks release of an 100-page report from Hindenburg Research. The short seller accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation, poor governance, and pulling the largest con in corporate history.
Shares in Adani companies have plummeted since then, wiping out $75 billion in value.
Adani Enterprises is currently in the middle of a $2.5 billion share sale, which is scheduled to end today. On Monday, the share sale got a vote of support from Abu Dhabis International Holding Company, which agreed to invest $400 million.
A calculated attack on India
The battle between the Adani Group and Hindenburg Research is quickly turning into a debate about India itself.
Hindenburgs report is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India, the Adani Group wrote in its 413-page response on Sunday.
The Wall Street short seller delivered a fiery rebuttal the following day, arguing that the Adani Group has attempted to conflate its meteoric rise and the wealth of its Chairman, Gautam Adani, with the success of India itself.
Indias future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation, wrote the firm, continuing that the Adani Group failed to give specific answers to most of its questions, instead only offering generalized deflections.
Fears over the Adani Group are dragging down other Indian companies. Shares in the state-owned Life Insurance Company of India, which has a significant stake in Adani Enterprises, have fallen almost 7% since the release of Hindenburgs report.
Its even knocked India from its place as the worlds fifth most valuable equity market, falling behind France on Monday.
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