Big surprise for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani: he lost 10.8 billion dollars in one day

Shares of Adani’s publicly traded companies plunged $10.8 billion after short-selling-focused Hindenburg Research released a report targeting billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.

Gautam Adani, the world’s third-richest person, was rocked yesterday by a report from Hindenburg Research, a short-selling investment firm. The report accused Adani of using various accounting tricks to inflate the value of his portfolio companies while Adani’s companies fell into hard sales.

The report alleges that the Adani Group engaged in stock price manipulation and accounting fraud for decades. Hindenburg submitted a list of 88 questions about the allegations that he “hopes the Adani Group will be happy to answer.”

THEY REJECT THE CLAIMS

Jugeshinder Singh, CFO of Adani Group, described the report as “a malicious mix of misinformation and outdated, unsubstantiated and discredited claims” and dismissed it.

Hindenburg also said that he took “short positions (investment that will decrease the value of the company) in the US and India” in the Adani Group companies.

ADANI’S COMPANIES LOSE DURA VALUE

Following the report, holding company Adani Enterprises (ADEL), the flagship of Adani’s companies, lost 1.1 percent in Mumbai, while the group’s shipping and port arm lost more than 6 percent.

Shares of the seven publicly traded Adani Group companies fell more than 5 percent on average. With these decreases, the total loss of Adani Group shares reached approximately 875 billion rupees ($10.8 billion).

HOW DID ADANI GROW UP?

Adani’s net worth is estimated to be around $118 billion, largely due to investments in fossil fuels and renewable energy. The famous billionaire already has more wealth than businessmen like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

The businessman, who began his career as a commodity trader in the 1980s, now owns India’s largest private infrastructure group, with nearly a dozen ports and eight airports. The group has numerous subsidiaries, including media, IT and defense.

While Adani’s companies have been valued at more than 3,300% in the stock market in the last three years, there were plans to increase Adani Enterprises’ stake. Adani, who is the biggest money maker in 2022, is also estimated to be very close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.