Gautam Adani is no longer among the world's 25 richest
Gautam Adani was once the second richest man alive on the planet. Now, he is not among the 25 richest billionaires in the world. Per Forbes and Bloomberg indices, the business tycoon's fortune slipped below $44 billion on Wednesday. Adani's fortune has been on a downward slope ever since American short-seller Hindenburg Research published a damning report about the Adani Group.
Why does this story matter?
Hindenburg published a report on Adani Group in January, where it accused the conglomerate of market manipulation and accounting fraud. The activist investment firm also questioned the group's sky-high debt and valuation. Adani Group has denied the allegations by the short seller. However, that hasn't had any impact on the slump. Its other attempts at salvaging the situation haven't paid out as well.
Adani is 29th on the Bloomberg index
Per Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani was worth $121 billion at the beginning of this year. At that time, he was third on the list. Now, he is placed 29th with a fortune of $42.7 billion. According to Forbes, the chairman of the Adani Group is currently worth $43.4 billion and takes 26th place.
Adani is behind Nike co-founder Phil Knight on Forbes' list
On the Bloomberg list, Adani is behind Giovanni Ferrero, the executive chairman of his family's namesake confections business. He is slightly ahead of Francois Pinault, the French billionaire who founded the luxury group Kering. On the other hand, Adani is behind Nike co-founder Phil Knight on the Forbes list. He leads Franco-Lebanese businessman Rodolphe Saadé by a slight margin.
He is still the second-richest Indian in the world
Despite the nosedive his fortune took this year, Adani is still the second-richest Indian in the world. He trails Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and MD of Reliance Industries. Per the Bloomberg Index, Ambani is the 12th richest person on the planet with a net worth of $81.5 billion. Forbes, on the other hand, has put him in 8th place.
Adani Group companies' combined m-cap is below $100bn
The shares of Adani Group companies have been tumbling on a daily basis since Hindenburg published its report. The market capitalization (m-cap) of Adani Enterprises, the conglomerate's flagship company, has fallen from $52.81 billion on January 7 to $20.46 billion. The group's combined m-cap is now below $100 billion compared to $232 billion on January 24.
