Self-made billionaire Gautam Adani’s net worth plummeted on Wednesday, with the Adani Group chairman shedding $5.51 billion from his personal fortune after US investor Hindenburg Research accused companies owned by the Indian tycoon of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud.
Since January 1, Mr Adani has lost $7.11 billion from his net worth. He is now the world’s fourth-richest person with a fortune of $113 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Shares in Adani Group companies fell on Wednesday after Hindenburg Research said in a research report that it was shorting the conglomerate’s stocks based on its two-year investigation.
World's richest people in 2022 — in pictures
Adani group chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh dismissed the accusations in the report, saying it was “a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations”.
The report was released on the same day that a key share sale from Adani Enterprises, aimed at attracting a broader network of investors, is set to open for subscription, Bloomberg reported.
The timing “clearly betrays a brazen, mala fide intention to undermine” and damage the share sale plan, Mr Singh said.
Mr Adani was one of the biggest wealth-gainers in 2022, adding $42.2 billion to his net worth and overtaking fellow centibillionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The tycoon started climbing the ranks of the world’s richest in April last year, when shares in his listed companies skyrocketed.
He ended 2022 as the world’s third-richest person with a fortune of $119 billion.
Mr Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who started out as a diamond trader in Mumbai in the 1980s, helped run his brother’s plastics business in his home state of Gujarat before setting up Adani Enterprises — the group’s flagship company — as an agri-commodities trader in 1988.
Over the past two decades, the Adani Group has diversified into ports, power generation and distribution, airports, data centres and digital services.
“Today, he is one of the 100 most influential businessmen worldwide, both in the shipping trade and infrastructure industry,” said Celebrity Net Worth, which tracks the wealth and finances of the rich and famous.
Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury group LVMH, continues to hold the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $190 billion. So far this year, Mr Arnault has added $27.68 billion to his fortune.
Tesla co-founder and Twitter owner Elon Musk, who shed a whopping $138 billion from his personal fortune in 2022, is the world’s second-wealthiest person with a net worth of $146 billion.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now the third-richest person with a net worth of $120 billion.
The world’s top five richest people
- Bernard Arnault — $190 billion
- Elon Musk — $146 billion
- Jeff Bezos — $120 billion
- Gautam Adani — $113 billion
- Bill Gates — $111 billion
