New Delhi
CNN
—
Gautam Adani As the shares of his business empire continue to plummet following allegations of fraud by US short sellers, he is looking to cede his position as Asia’s richest person to another Indian billionaire.
In a survey published last Tuesday, hindenburg studies accused Adani’s Port-to-Power Group of “decades of brazen stock manipulation and fraudulent accounting schemes.”
Adani Group condemned the report It says it is considering legal action, calling it “baseless” and “malicious,” but the market reaction is brutal and relentless.
The conglomerate with seven publicly traded companies has lost more than $90 billion in market value in the week since Hindenburg’s report was published.
The stock market crash was nearly wiped out $40 billion From Adani’s personal property. A week ago, he was the fourth richest person in the world. Currently, he ranks 10th on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index and is on the verge of being overtaken by Indian telecommunications entrepreneur Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s richest person. Bloomberg indices are updated at the close of each New York trading day.
forbesAmbani, who heads Reliance Industries, has already surpassed Adani in real-time billionaire rankings. According to Forbes, Ambani’s net worth of $83 billion makes him the 9th richest person in the world, while Adani’s fortune is estimated at around $75 billion.
Despite Adani’s brief hiatus, chaos ensued on Tuesday when Adani’s flagship company, Adani Enterprises, issued new shares worth $2.5 billion. The capital raising exercise was touted as the largest public offering in Indian history by a listed company. After a soft start, the offer was fully booked just before the close of trading in Mumbai.
But retail investor interest was low and the market crash resumed on Wednesday. Adani Enterprises shares plunged about 30% on Wednesday, while Adani Ports plunged about 20%.
At the peak of his wealth last year, Adani was the second richest person in the world, surpassing Jeff Bezos. This is the first time an Asian has ranked so high on Bloomberg’s list, long dominated by white tech entrepreneurs.
