As shares in his business empire continue to fall due to fraudulent claims made by an American short seller, Gautam Adani appears to be on the verge of losing his title as Asia’s wealthiest man to another Indian billionaire. Hindenburg Research charged Adani’s ports-to-power organisation with “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over decades” in a report published last Tuesday. Although the Adani Group criticised the report as “baseless” and “malicious” and stated that it was exploring legal action, the market’s response was harsh and unrelenting.
In the week since Hindenburg released its research, the conglomerate, which includes seven listed firms, has seen its market value drop by more than $90 billion. A $40 billion portion of Adani’s personal wealth has been lost due to the market collapse. He was the world’s fourth-richest person a week ago. His current position as Asia’s richest man, 10th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, suggests that Mukesh Ambani, an Indian energy and telecom magnate, may soon surpass him. At the conclusion of each New York trading day, Bloomberg’s index is updated.
Ambani’s Reliance industry is already ranked above Adani
Ambani, the owner of Reliance Industries, is already ranked above Adani in Forbes’ live list of billionaires. Ambani is now the ninth richest person in the world with a net worth of $83 billion, whereas Adani’s fortune is estimated to be worth roughly $75 billion by Forbes. Even though Adani’s flagship company, Adani Enterprises, was able to issue new shares worth $2.5 billion on Tuesday, the unrest continues. The capital-raising effort was hailed as the largest ever IPO by a listed firm in India. The offer was wholly subscribed just before the Mumbai trade ended after a sluggish start.
Retail investors, however, showed little enthusiasm, and the market slide proceeded on Wednesday. On Wednesday, shares of Adani Enterprises fell by roughly 30%, while those of Adani Ports fell by almost 20%. Indian market watchdogs have not yet made any remarks about the spectacular events of the previous week. But according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is investigating the stock price declines as well as any potential irregularities in Tuesday’s share sale.
Adani surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the second-richest person in the world at the height of his wealth the previous year. A individual from Asia has never previously placed so highly on the Bloomberg list, which had previously been dominated by white tech entrepreneurs.