Adani founder and chairman, Gautam Adani, has seen a massive slide in net worth as his company sees further losses in shares.
Shares of Adani Group continued to suffer sharp losses for a third straight trading session, even though the company tried to downplay it. Regardless, Adani released a rebuttal to short seller firm Hindenburg’s report, which called for a short position. In its report, Hindenburg accused the Indian multinational conglomerate of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
The latest round of Adani losses also came amid the steep net worth plunge of its founder and chairman, Gautam Adani. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index reveals that Asia’s wealthiest man has lost approximately $28 billion since the turn of the new year. This plummet in personal fortune also saw Adani fall out of the world’s top five richest, ranking seventh on the index.
Latest Losses to Accompany Adani Shares Triggered by Hindenburg Report
Adani shares experienced fresh losses that show the company’s stock price trading 25% lower in the month to date. Furthermore, the Ahmedabad-headquartered conglomerate gave up earlier gains of 10% during its last trading session. Adani last traded flat in Mumbai’s afternoon session following a lengthy 400-page response to Hindenburg’s weekend report.
In the report, Hindenburg said of Adani’s stock:
“After extensive research, we have taken a short position in Adani Group Companies through US-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments.”
In addition, the short seller firm alleged Adani’s decades-old involvement in questionable stock, financial, and auditing practices, saying:
“Today we reveal the findings of our 2-year investigation, presenting evidence that the INR 17.8 trillion (US $218 billion) Indian conglomerate Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.”
However, Adani strongly objected to Hindenburg’s allegations, describing the report as a “malicious combination of selective misinformation.” Furthermore, the conglomerate maintained that it always complied with all laws and vowed to “pursue remedies” to protect its investors.
Adani chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh, who revealed that the company would explore all remedial avenues, said of Hindenburg’s latest assessment that “the timing of the report’s publication clearly betrays a brazen, mala fide intention to undermine the Adani Group’s reputation.”
In addition, Adani Group stated that Hindenburg published its report without contacting them for factual verification.
Adani Enterprises’ beaten stock proceeded with a $2.5 billion secondary share sale, eclipsed by a $48 billion rout-triggered loss. The company’s founder’s net worth has fallen $27.9 billion year to date after peaking at $150 billion last September. Adani’s net worth stood at just under $93 billion as of last week’s close. Furthermore, last August, the Indian billionaire industrialist was second only to Tesla head honcho Elon Musk as the world’s richest individual.
Reuters Report
A recent Reuters report states that Adani’s market loss has increased to $70 billion as its fight with Hindenburg escalates. The conglomerate’s rebuttal of the US short-sellers criticism failed to appease investors who remain on edge.
On Monday morning, Hindenburg described Adani’s response to its criticism as bloated and digressional.
