Gautam Adani slips to 32nd in rich list, net worth shrinks to $37.7 billion

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's net worth has shrunk to $37.7 billion, taking him to 32nd on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index

Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani's net worth has shrunk to $37.7 billion, bringing him down at the 32nd position on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Adani's ranking has slipped from third a month ago, when his net worth stood at around $120 billion. The stocks of listed Adani Group companies have seen a sharp decline since US short-seller Hindenberg Research came up with a scathing report on the group.

Hindenberg's report creates uncertainties

Hindenberg's report, titled "Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History," created uncertainties among Indian investors, leading to a panic.

The report accused Adani Group of accounting fraud, and also claimed that the group was involved in billions of dollars worth of suspicious dealing between Gautam Adani's brother and group chairman Vinod Adani, and a clutch of offshore shell entities.

The Hindenberg report also claimed that Adani Group indulged in billions of dollars in fraud.

Adani Group's Response

After the Hindenberg report created panic in the stock market, the Adani group issued its response to the claims. 

In its 413-page response to the Hindenberg report, Adani Group dismissed the accusations and called them baseless. It dubbed the short-seller “Madoffs of Manhattan.”

It also said in its response that it was not an attack on a specific company but a calculated attack on India and its growth story. 

Hindenberg report paused Adani's growth

Adani Group was growing at a rapid speed, but the Hindenberg report threw a spanner in its works. The chaos and panic that followed the release of the report in late January this year have led to an erosion of more than $80 billion in Gautam Adani's net worth.