Who is Gautam Adani, accused of “biggest fraud” by Hindenburg Research?

Gautham Adani, Asia’s richest man, suddenly found himself in the middle of a riot on Wednesday after the high profile short-seller Hindenberg Research. He claimed his India-based business empire was built on fraud.

Adani, 60, experienced a rise in personal wealth last year despite slowing growth in the global economy.

He is the chairman of the Adani Group, a sprawling $21 billion conglomerate that owns many of India’s airports, the country’s largest private seaport, media giant New Delhi Television and many other holding companies.

A college dropout, Adani began her career in the diamond industry before joining her brother’s plastics factory. According to the Financial Times.

Eventually, Adani founded his own company. This started as an import/export operation in the commodity sector and gradually expanded to other initiatives.

According to a biography posted on the Adani Group’s website, the namesake founder was described as a “first-generation entrepreneur” who focused on “nation-building” through infrastructure development. increase. He is married and has his two sons, Karan and Jeet.

“For Adani, nation-building means transforming India’s coastline by building a series of ports and logistics hubs,” reads Bio. It also means bridging the urban-rural divide by increasing security and powering hundreds of millions of people in the Indian hinterland.”

Apart from a high profile business career, Adani survived the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, and the 1998 kidnapping and ransom attempt. According to the BBC and other outlets.

Adani has faced considerable criticism amidst his rise to international wealth and fame. Critics have scrutinized his close ties and support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The businessman has been called “Modi’s Rockefeller” because of his strong ties to Indian politics.

Adani was an early booster of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party. In 2014, Modi reportedly flew to the capital, New Delhi, on an Adani private jet to become prime minister.

Since Modi took power, his fortune has skyrocketed, from about $5 billion in 2014 to a whopping $121 billion by the end of 2022. According to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, the Adani Group has landed various government contracts and infrastructure projects, According to the Financial Times.

“Modi does not directly help individuals,” Adani told the Financial Times in 2013.

Adani’s net worth surged by $44 billion last year, more than any other individual tracked by Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, surpassing the likes of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett. rice field.

However, the Adani Group’s empire has seen Hindenburg, an influential company that previously targeted electric car companies Nikola and Rosetown Motors, be involved in the brazen accounting fraud, stock manipulation, and money laundering that had been carried out at Adani. Faced unprecedented scrutiny after claiming to have found evidence of the ring. decades. ”

“Adani has accomplished this colossal feat with the help of government enablers and international cottage industries that facilitate these activities.

Hindenburg says the Adani Group faces at least “four major government fraud investigations” and that “eight of the 22 key leaders are members of the Adani family.”

After Hindenburg’s allegations surfaced, Adani-controlled shares lost about $12 billion worth of value.

After Hindenburg’s damning report, Forbes estimate With a net worth of $119.1 billion, Adani is the fourth richest person in the world, behind billionaires Bernard Arnault, Elon Musk and Bezos. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index Adani is the fourth richest person with a fortune of $119 billion.

Adani Group denied the allegations in a statement from its CFO, Jugesinder Singh.

“We are shocked that Hindenburg Research published the report on January 24, 2023 without contacting us or attempting to verify the matrix of facts,” Singh said. The book viciously combines selective misinformation with stale, unsubstantiated and discredited claims that have been verified and rejected by India’s Supreme Court.”