Gautam Adani loses status as richest Indian after Hindenburg attack

New Delhi: Against the backdrop of Adani stocks’ downward pull, which continued even today, business tycoon Gautam Adani lost his status as the world's richest Indian to fellow Gujarati businessman and Reliance Industries (RIL) Mukesh Ambani.

The 60-year-old Ahmedabad-based self-made entrepreneur has now been pushed to the No. 15 spot on the list of world's richest billionaires, compiled by Forbes. Adani's wealth is now estimated at $75.1 billion while Ambani is at 9th position with a net worth of $83.7 billion.

According to the Forbes data, Adani is estimated to have lost around $13.1 billion today itself after the stocks of his vast empire — spread across ports to energy — crashed up to 30%.

In the last five trading sessions, the market capitalisation of all his 10 listed companies are down by Rs 7.5 lakh crore or one-third.

Adani, who was the biggest wealth gainer in 2022, is the biggest loser on the rich list this year. Bloomberg data shows that he has lost around $36 billion so far in 2023.

A report by Hindenburg Research last week alleged improper use of offshore tax havens while flagging concerns about high debt and the valuations of seven listed Adani companies. It has brought heightened scrutiny of the conglomerate with an Australian regulator saying on Wednesday that it would be reviewing the allegations to see if further enquiries are warranted.

The Adani Group has denied the allegations, calling them baseless and saying it has always made necessary regulatory disclosures.

The worsening rout comes despite the group managing to muster support from investors to haul a share sale for flagship firm Adani Enterprises Ltd over the line on Tuesday.

Adani Total Gas, a joint venture between France's energy major Total and Adani Group, has been the biggest casualty of the short seller report, losing about $27 billion.

Data also showed that foreign investors sold a net $1.5 billion worth of Indian equities since the Hindenburg report - the biggest outflow over four consecutive days since September 30.

Hindenburg said in its report it had shorted US-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group.

(With inputs from Reuters)