Controversy Embroiled Gautam Adani Loses Asia’s Richest Title To Mukesh Ambani

Topline

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani ceded the title of Asia’s richest person to compatriot Mukesh Ambani, the chairperson of Reliance Industries, on Wednesday, as his listed companies continued to slide in the stock market as they try to fight back against allegations of serious fraud made by U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.

Key Facts

According to Forbes’ real-time tracker, Adani’s net worth briefly dropped by another $4 billion as of Wednesday afternoon causing him to drop from eighth to tenth place on the list of the world’s richest people.

With an estimated net worth of $84.6 billion, India’s Mukesh Ambani moved to ninth on the list overtaking his compatriot as Asia’s richest person.

Ambani is the chairperson of the conglomerate Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil, gas, telecom and retail.

Despite its follow-on public offering getting fully subscribed on Tuesday—with backing from Middle Eastern institutional investors—the Adani Group’s flagship Adani Enterprises was down 5.6% on Wednesday afternoon.

The conglomerate’s six other major listed firms—Adani Ports, Adani Wilmar, Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas—were also in the red on Wednesday afternoon

Forbes Valuation

At the time of publishing Forbes estimates Adani’s net worth to be $84.1 billion, down $4.1 billion on Wednesday. Since Hindenburg Research made its allegations public last week, Adani has dropped from the third spot on the world’s richest list and has seen his fortune shrink by more than $42 billion.

News Peg

Despite both being at the helm of massive conglomerates with varied interests billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani have for years avoided a direct clash. While Ambani’s Reliance has grown into a behemoth in telecom, media and retail, Adani has mostly focused on infrastructure, transport and energy distribution. Over the past few years, however, both have tried to pivot towards green energy raising the possibility of a market overlap where they may be forced to compete with each other.

Key Background

Last week, Hindenburg disclosed a short position against Adani Group’s listed companies and published a report accusing the company of engaging in “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.” The Adani group has vehemently denied the allegations calling them “maliciously mischievous [and] unresearched,” and has threatened legal action. In 413-page rebuttal of Hindenburg’s allegations the company labeled them as not “merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India” and its growth story. Hindenburg, however, dismissed the statement accusing the Adani Group of draping itself in the Indian flag “while systematically looting the nation.”

Further Reading

Adani Taps Indian Nationalist Fervor To Salvage His Empire—As He Slides Down Billionaire Ranks (Forbes)

Gautam Adani’s Middle Eastern Allies Help Him Shrug Off Fraud Allegations, Wealth Plunge (Forbes)