Another dark day for Gautam Adani. Adani Enterprises, the flagship of the Indian tycoon conglomerate, fell on Wednesday by nearly 30% on the Bombay Stock Exchange. A dip that marks a fifth consecutive day of losses. The rout linked to the publication of a very critical report generated colossal losses for the conglomerate, which was built around its port activities and with the trade in raw materials.
The numbers have enough to make your head spin. Since last week, $92 billion in market value has been wiped out, according to Bloomberg News. At the same time, Gautam Adani’s personal fortune has shrunk by more than 40 billion dollars, according to the Forbes ranking. This knocks him out of the top 10 richest men in the world.
A loss to put into perspective, the tycoon would still weigh 75 billion dollars and the price of Adani Enterprises had soared over the last 5 years by more than 1000%.
The origin of this debacle: the report of a small american company Hindenburg Research investment firm. He accuses the group of shameless stock manipulation ” and ” of accounting fraud over several decades “. The conglomerate was quick to respond at length. 413 pages to defend himself against what he considers to be ” an unwarranted attack on a specific company ” and “ a calculated attack on India “.
The group is considering legal action against Hindenburg Research, Hindenburg which had bet on Adani’s price drop. Bet succeeded, for the moment at least.