Gautam Adani no longer among world's top 20 richest people

Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group has gone from being the world’s third’s richest person on 17 January 2023 to not even being among the top 20 on Friday, February 3. From $124 billion on January 17 to $61.3 billion as of Friday, Adani's net worth has dropped precipitously. The Adani Group firms have lost $108 billion in market value since Hindenburg Research accused them of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in a report on January 24. This has caused a sharp decrease in Adani's wealth. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has dropped to position 21.

Gautam Adani, who was once ranked first among the wealthiest people in India and Asia, is now the second-richest person in India and the third-richest person in Asia. With its 103-page scathing report, the US-based short seller Hindenburg revived previous concerns about corporate governance at the Adani conglomerate.

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Investors have not been reassured by Adani's lengthy 412 page rebuttal as the stocks of the Adani Group companies continue to almost daily hit lower circuits. Following Hindernburg's accusations, Adani went from being the richest person on Bloomberg's wealthy list in 2022 to being the one who lost the most money this year.

Meanwhile, Gautam Adani denied any involvement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ascension to the top of Asia's richest people, a title he later lost after a dramatic stock decline. The fact that he and the PM are both from the same state, he claimed, makes him a "easy target" for such accusations. He called the claims "baseless."

Also read: Adani pulls the plug on Rs 20,000 crore FPO, cites investor interest

After MPs in both Houses sought a probe into the fraud allegations against the Adani Group under the direction of the Supreme Court, the ongoing budget session in Parliament was disrupted by the Adani controversy.

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• Adani Group
• Gautam Adani
• Hindenburg Research
• stock manipulation
• fraud
• PM Modi