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- Indian billionaire Gautam Adani lost $52 billion in net worth over six trading days.
- Adani's losses were due to a massive selloff in the shares of his companies.
- Shares in Adani Group companies have lost over $100 billion in market cap since a US short seller's fraud allegations.
Indian tycoon Gautam Adani's wealth has come under so much pressure in the last week and a half that his losses have outpaced some of the largest fortunes lost in recent years.
Adani — whose empire is under pressure from a US short seller — has already lost $52 billion in just six trading days, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In comparison, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried lost all of his $16 billion fortune in under a week following the collapse of the crypto exchange, per Bloomberg.
Adani is now worth $61.3 billion and on the 21st spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's also India's second-richest person after Mukesh Ambani. However, that's a steep drop from just last week, when Adani was the planet's fourth-richest person. At his peak in September 2022, Adani was worth $150 billion, per Bloomberg.
In terms of absolute value, Adani's wealth wipeout is also larger than that of Brazil's "negative billionaire" Eike Batista, who lost his entire $35 billion fortune in a year after his oil and mining empire collapsed in 2013.
The spectacular decline in Adani's net worth is the most serious in terms of its scale and speed of decline since Bloomberg started tracking billionaires in 2012, the news outlet noted. The dramatic decline in Adani's net worth is because much of his wealth is derived from his stakes in his businesses.
Listed companies under the Adani Group have lost over $100 billion in market value so far this year since short seller Hindenburg Research released a scathing report last Tuesday alleging "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme" at the Adani Group.
The Adani Group has been defending itself vigorously, but Hindenburg has also doubled down on its initial report.
Still, the battle has rattled the market. Shares in its flagship company Adani Enterprises are down about 60% this year so far.
However, since much of Adani's wealth is tied up with his stakes in his companies, there could still be upside for his fortune as share prices fluctuate.
After all, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was the first person ever to lose $200 billion after the electric vehicle maker's shares declined sharply last year. But his net worth is up $36.5 billion this year so far on the back of strong gains in the stock, per Bloomberg Billionaires Index.