MONEY
The man who was about to catch up with Elon Musk and overthrow from the second place among the world’s richest people suffered violent losses that pushed him out of the list of the top five after dramatic losses.
The Adani Group, founded by Gautam Adani, the richest person in Asia, lost $50 billion in value this week after disproving a report from a New York investment firm.
The beginning of the crisis
Late Tuesday, Hindenburg Research, a company that made its name by betting against unprofitable cryptocurrency companies and electric car makers, published a report accusing the billionaire tycoon’s company, Adani Group, of a “stock manipulation scheme and accounting fraud.”
Adani Group shares hit a violent wave of declines, and after an initial fluctuation in the market on Wednesday, trading was paused on Thursday, as markets in India were closed on the country’s annual Republic Day.
But when trading resumed on Friday, most of the Adani Group companies fell by 20 percent, which is the maximum allowed by the stock exchanges before trading stopped.
India’s benchmark stock index fell 1.6% that day, its worst drop in more than a month. Overall, the Adani Group has lost about a fifth of its value since the Hindenburg report.
Banish the group
The Adani Group denied Hindenburg’s claims in a series of criticisms, describing it as a “malicious attempt” to profit by dumping its shares.
The company’s legal chief said that the fluctuations in Indian stock markets created by the report are of great concern and have led to unwanted suffering for Indian citizens.
Although the Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, was the only one among the list of the 10 richest people in the world, who ended the year 2022 as a winner, as his wealth recorded an increase of $ 44 billion, the first month of 2023 witnessed a major earthquake with the wealth of the richest man in Asia.
What happened?
Following the publication of a report on the Adani Group, prepared by Hindenburg Research, accusing the Indian billionaire of fraud in various fields, the shares of the group’s companies fell sharply.
The company said the head of the Adani Group had been involved in fraud for several decades, including manipulation of stock and accounting markets, and money laundering.
Exclusion from the list
As a result, Gautam Adani’s ranking declined, in the list of the world’s richest people, as it fell to seventh place, to be outside the list of the 5 richest people in the world, after occupying third place at the end of 2022.
The Indian billionaire heads the “Adani” group, which operates and invests in various fields, such as ports and airports, as well as energy, real estate, cement, and others, in addition to plans to invest heavily in the renewable energy sector.
Group comment
Commenting on the accusations, the Adani Group said that the Hindenburg Research report is trying to demolish one of the largest companies in India and Asia, stressing that it will respond to that through legal procedures.
The shares of the Adani Group companies fell dramatically last Friday, as the share of the “Adani Enterprise” company fell by more than 18%.
Adani Ports fell by more than 15%, Adani Power declined by 5%, and Adani Total (EPA: TTEF) Gas, Adani Transmission and Adani Green Energy shares declined by the maximum drop of 20%.
Adani fortune
After the shock of the Adani Group, the American Forbes estimated the wealth of the Indian billionaire now at $ 96.6 billion, while according to the Bloomberg index it amounts to $ 92.3 billion.
What pushes him outside the list of the 5 richest people after his fortune was $ 119.3 billion, but he is still the richest person in Asia despite losing nearly $ 22.7 billion.
According to the Bloomberg Wealth Index, Gautam Adani lost nearly $28 billion since the beginning of the year, topping the list of the most losers during the first month of 2023.
Ranking of the wealthy according to Bloomberg
Bernard Arnault is in first place with a fortune of $190 billion.
Elon Musk is in second place with a fortune of $167 billion.
Jeff Bezos is in third place with a fortune of $126 billion.
Bill Gates is in fourth place with a fortune of $112 billion.
Warren Buffett is in fifth place with a fortune of $108 billion.
Larry Ellison is in sixth place with a fortune of $101 billion.
Gautam Adani is in seventh place with a fortune of $92.7 billion.
Larry Page is in eighth place with a fortune of $92 billion.
Steve Ballmer is in ninth place with a fortune of $88.7 billion.
Sergey Brian is in tenth place with a fortune of $88.4 billion.