by - Indian billionaire Gautam Adani lost $52 billion in net worth in six trading days.
- Adani’s losses were due to a massive sell-off in his companies’ stocks.
- Shares of Adani Group companies have lost over $100 billion in market cap since fraud allegations were made by a US short seller.
Indian tycoon Gautam Adani’s fortune has come under so much pressure over the past week and a half that his losses have topped some of the biggest losses in recent years.
Adani – whose empire is under pressure from a US short seller – has already lost $52 billion in just six trading days, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In comparison, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried lost his entire $16 billion fortune in less than a week after the crypto exchange collapse, according to Bloomberg.
Adani is now worth $61.3 billion and ranks 21st on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is also the second richest person in India after Mukesh Ambani. However, that’s a steep drop from last week, when Adani was the fourth richest person in the world. At its peak in September 2022, Adani was worth $150 billion, according to Bloomberg.
In absolute value terms, Adani’s wealth destruction is also greater than that of Brazil’s “negative billionaire” Eike Batista, who lost his entire $35 billion fortune in a year after his oil and mining empire collapsed in 2013.
The spectacular drop in Adani’s net worth is the most serious, in terms of the size and speed of the drop, since Bloomberg began tracking billionaires in 2012, the news outlet noted. The dramatic drop in Adani’s net worth is due to the fact that much of his wealth comes from his shares in his companies.
Listed companies of the Adani Group have lost over $100 billion in market value so far this year since short seller Hindenburg Research issued a scathing report last Tuesday accusing the Adani Group of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud schemes”.
The Adani group has vigorously defended themselves, but Hindenburg has also doubled down on his original report.
Still, the fight rocked the market. Shares at its flagship company, Adani Enterprises, are down about 60% so far this year.
However, with much of Adani’s wealth tied to his interests in his companies, there could still be upside potential for his fortune if stock prices fluctuate.
After all, Tesla CEO Elon Musk became the first person to lose $200 billion after the electric vehicle maker’s shares fell sharply last year. But his net worth is up $36.5 billion so far this year, on the back of strong gains for the stock, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
