2023 drilled $35 billion hole in tycoon Gautam Adani's wallet
Gautam Adani, who has survived the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai's Taj Hotel and kidnapping incident in 1998, is walking out of 2023 after suffering a loss of about $35 billion from the Hindenburg attack.
Following the Hindenburg controversy and subsequent investigation by markets regulator Sebi on allegations of share price manipulation, the 61-year-old tycoon saw the highest decline in his personal wealth globally, data from Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.
In pre-Hindenburg days, the maverick businessman's wealth saw a gravity-defying one-way movement that took him to the position of world's second richest man for a brief period. With his fortune being estimated at around $85 billion, Adani is now the second richest Indian after Mukesh Ambani.
In the world order of billionaires, the school dropout now stands at the 15th spot after losing over 29% of his wealth in the worst crisis faced by the apples-to-airport conglomerate’s history.
The combined market capitalisation of all 10 listed Adani stocks has now fallen to about Rs 14 lakh crore from over Rs 19 lakh crore before the Hindenburg report was released.
At one point during the year, almost 60% of Adani's wealth was wiped off following non-stop selling of Adani stocks.
The first sign of relief for the business tycoon came on March 2 when US-based GQG Partners picked stakes worth Rs 5,460 crore in 4 Adani stocks. Since then, the fund house, run by NRI Rajiv Jain, has been increasing stakes in Adani stocks.
The Ahmedabad-based conglomerate has also been raising cash to manage debt, which was not only highlighted in the Hindenburg report but has also been an investor concern in the past.
