Gautam Adani has lost his position as Asia’s richest person, after the fallout from a short seller report targeting Indian conglomerate Adani Group caused a staggering drop in the founder’s net worth.
Adani, who was previously the world’s third richest person, with an estimated fortune of $121 billion, is now No. 15 on Forbes‘ billionaire list with a net worth of $74.7 billion.
His title as the richest person in Asia was overtaken by India’s Mukesh Ambani, chairman of conglomerate Reliance Industries, who is the world’s ninth wealthiest person with a net worth of $83.7 billion.
Shares in the Adani Group began plunging after a Jan. 24 report from Hindenburg Research, a U.S. investment firm, accused the conglomerate of accounting fraud and stock manipulation and announced it would short the group’s companies. On Jan. 29, Adani Group denied the allegations in a 413-page rebuttal.
However, the conglomerate’s shares have continued to fall over the past week. Despite raising $2.5 billion from investors in a share sale on Jan. 31, Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship firm, reportedly fell by 28 percent today (Feb. 1), bringing the company’s total losses to $18 billion.
