Hindenburg Research’s bruising report accusing the Adani Group of pulling off “the largest con in corporate history” has rattled India’s stock markets.
On Jan. 24, the New York-based forensic financial research firm disclosed its short positions on Adani companies, on the grounds of alleged accounting fraud and “brazen stock manipulation” over the course of decades. This has sent shares of the company spiraling down into a deep red zone in the past two days. So far, its seven listed entities have lost $39.4 billion of value.
Hindenburg Research has a track record of exposing corporate wrongdoings, including those of electric-truck maker Nikola Corporation, and of betting wisely on short and long investments, as it did with Twitter during the social media company’s long takeover drama with Elon Musk.
Hindenburg’s latest report, 106 pages in all, seeks answers to 88 questions related to discrepancies at Adani that it says it found across two years. The group’s chief, Indian industrialist Gautam Adani, is Asia’s richest man, with a net worth of roughly $120 billion.
The conglomerate’s legal head, Jatin Jalundhwala, in a statement on Jan. 26, said the company was “deeply disturbed” by the “intentional and reckless” attempt to tarnish Adani’s reputation ahead of a follow-on public offer that opened today (Jan. 27).
The extent of the damage triggered by Hindenburg’s findings is of widespread importance in India, where several public-sector banks
