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- Short-seller Hindenburg Research has targeted three of the world's wealthiest men this year.
- It's made high-profile bets against Adani Group, Block, and Icahn Enterprises.
- Gautam Adani, Jack Dorsey, and Carl Icahn have seen their wealth plummet in 2023.
Short-seller Hindenburg Research's big bets against Adani Group, Block, and Icahn Enterprises have fueled a massive wealth wipeout for three of the world's richest men this year.
Indian magnate Gautam Adani, Twitter and Block founder Jack Dorsey, and activist investor Carl Icahn have all seen their personal fortunes plummet, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Adani has suffered the largest losses of the three, with his wealth plunging $57 billion since Hindenburg published a report in January that accused him of "pulling the largest con in corporate history", sparking major losses for his publicly-traded companies.
Dorsey lost a more modest $530 million after Hindenburg critiqued his payment firm Block – but Icahn has got nearly $16 billion poorer after the short-seller said in May that he used "Ponzi-like structures" to deceive investors.
On Friday alone, Icahn Enterprises' stock plunged 23% after it slashed shareholders' payouts from $2 to $1, which Icahn himself attributed to Hindenburg's "misleading and self-serving" report.
Icahn's wealth fell from $10.5 billion to $8 billion that day alone, per Bloomberg's index.
Hindenburg, which achieved prominence in the past with big bets against EV corporation Nikola and the Chamath Palihapitiya-backed firm Clover Health, has hit headlines this year with its high-profile reports targeting the three billionaires' companies.
Its attacks have erased $173 billion from the value of their publicly-traded companies, with the brunt of those losses borne by listed firms under the Adani Group umbrella, per Bloomberg.
Perhaps surprisingly, Hindenburg and its founder Nate Anderson probably only made tiny gains this year, according to the outlet, which cited data from S3 Partners showing the short-seller would have earned just $56 million from its bet against Icahn if it perfectly timed its exits.