Gautam Adani no longer among world’s top 20 richest people

The Adani Group companies have lost $108 billion in market value since Hindenburg Research accused them of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in a study on January 24. This has caused a sharp decrease in Adani’s wealth.

Gautam Adani
Gautam Adani

On January 17, 2023, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, was the third-richest person in the world; as of Friday, February 3, he was not even in the top 20. Adani’s net worth fell drastically from $124 billion on January 17 to $61.3 billion as of Friday. Since Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group companies of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in a study on January 24, their market value has decreased by $108 billion. Adani’s fortune has significantly decreased as a result of this. He has slid to position 21 in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Previously ranked #1 among the richest individuals in India and Asia, Gautam Adani is now placed second in India and third in Asia. The US-based short seller Hindenburg resurrected earlier worries about corporate governance at the Adani business with its 103-page damning report.

Adani’s lengthy 412 page reply hasn’t reassured investors, as the stocks of the Adani Group companies continue to virtually daily touch lower circuits. Adani, who was listed as the richest person on Bloomberg’s wealthy list in 2022, is now the one who lost the most money this year as a result of Hindernburg’s claims.

Gautam Adani, however, denied any collaboration with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his rise to the top of Asia’s wealthiest individuals, a title he later lost following a sharp market collapse. He asserted that the PM’s same state of origin to his own made him a “easy target” for these charges. The claims, he said, were “baseless.”

The ongoing budget debate in Parliament was interrupted by the Adani scandal as MPs in both Houses demanded that the Supreme Court order an investigation into the fraud charges against the Adani Group.

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