Gautam Adani’s Fortune Plummets: $108 Billion Wiped Off Market Value
By Last week, Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, experienced a drastic fall in his fortune when he went from being the world's third-richest person on the 17th of January 2023 to not even being among the top 20.[0] According to Forbes' real-time billionaires list, Adani is now the 15th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $74.7 billion, having lost about $35 billion in the past week alone.[1]
The precipitous decline in Adani’s fortune was sparked by allegations last week by short-seller Hindenburg Research that Adani’s group of companies engaged in stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Adani Enterprises followed this up by cancelling a $2.5 billion share offering that it had just completed.[2] Altogether, Adani’s net worth has been halved in the past two weeks, and he now ranks 17th globally, worth $61.7 billion, according to Forbes.[3]
Hindenburg Research, an activist short-seller, had released a report titled “Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History”. This report detailed claims of decades-long stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and money laundering.[4] In response, Adani Group has issued a 413-page rebuttal, calling Hindenburg’s claims “stale, baseless, and discredited allegations” and accused Hindenburg of attempting to damage its reputation before a large share offering.[5]
The group owned by Gautam Adani has seen $108 billion wiped off its market value over the past few days.[2] Stocks in the group’s flagship company Adani Enterprises have tumbled about 50% since Hindenburg’s report was published, with the market cap (at the close of trade) falling from Rs 4.45 lakh crore to Rs 1.57 lakh crore. Other Adani Group companies such as Adani Power have seen their stocks plunge 33.61% since the report.[6]
Responding to concerns around the exposure of state-owned financial institutions to the Adani Group, the State Bank of India has stated that it has only 0.9% exposure to Adani and has granted loans against cashflows with no loans against shares.[6]
0. “Adani Enterprises shares are worth Rs 945 apiece despite upbeat assumptions, says Aswath Damodaran” Business Today, 6 Feb. 2023, https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/company-stock/story/adani-enterprises-shares-are-worth-rs-945-apiece-despite-upbeat-assumptions-says-aswath-damodaran-369072-2023-02-06
1. “The top 5 wealthiest people on earth after Gautam Adani lost $60 billion” Markets Insider, 5 Feb. 2023, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/top-5-wealthiest-people-earth-gautam-adani-lost-60-billion-2023-2
2. “Fraud claims against Adani Group spark political row in India” BBC, 3 Feb. 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64508129
3. “Adani-Modi: India Opposition Says Government Afraid to Discuss Investigation” Bloomberg, 7 Feb. 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-07/india-opposition-says-modi-government-afraid-of-debate-on-adani
4. “Adani Power shares shed multibagger tag in 2023; time to buy, sell or hold?” Business Today, 6 Feb. 2023, https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/company-stock/story/adani-power-shares-fall-target-price-hindenburg-report-369165-2023-02-06
5. “What Adani Group's Downfall Reveals About India's 1% | Time” TIME, 1 Feb. 2023, https://time.com/6251935/gautam-adani-group-india-hindenburg
6. “The Adani Group’s fall would only expose the business conglomerate, and it won’t trigger a crash like the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers” OpIndia, 7 Feb. 2023, https://www.opindia.com/2023/02/the-adani-group-fall-would-only-expose-adani-wont-trigger-a-crash-like-lehman-brothers/
