Gautam Adani drops off list of world’s top 10 richest people

Chairman of Adani Group

Gautam Adani, the Indian business tycoon has fallen from fourth place to 11th on the Billionaires Index, with a personal wealth wipeout of $34 billion in just three trading days.

Shares of Adani Group companies have plummeted in a three-day selloff that has erased more than $70 billion of market value, following the publication of a report by Hindenburg Research alleging “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud.”

For the fourth day running, shares of Adani Total Gas tanked 10 percent, Adani Green Energy tumbled 9.60 percent, Adani Transmission declined 8.62 percent, Adani Wilmar declined 5 percent, Adani Power declined 4.98 percent, NDTV declined 4.98 percent and Adani Ports declined 1.45 percent on the BSE.

Also read: LIC loses Rs. 16,580 crore as Adani group stocks crash

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) issued a statement saying its investments in the group are safe.

“Our total holding in the Adani Group companies under equity and debt on a date is Rs. 36,474.78 crores. This was Rs. 35,917.31 crore as of 31 December 2022. The total purchase value of these equities of the group companies, bought over the past many years, is rs. 30,127 crore and the market value for the same at the close of market hours on January 27, 2023, was Rs. 6,142 crores,” LIC said.

Punjab National Bank (PNB), which has about Rs 7,000 crore exposure in Adani Group entities, however, said it is keeping a close watch on the developing situation.

LIC stock fell 0.82 percent on 31 January 2023, while PNB climbed 3.74 percent.

Gautam Adani’s wealth now stands at $84.4 billion behind former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Mexican businessman Carlos Slim.

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Spriha Rai