Adani, Downsized

The billionaire symbol of India’s growth is a lot less rich after a short seller’s attack

- Pat Regnier and Paula Dwyer

An hour past sunrise in India on Feb. 2, the billionaire Gautam Adani appeared in a video posted online to reassure his investors: Everything will be fine.

For days the shares of companies in his mighty Adani Group conglomerate had been in a tailspin. The selloff was triggered by a damning report published by a US activist short seller—an investor that bets on the prices of assets falling, then tries to make that happen by taking its case to the public. Hindenburg Research accused Adani of running nothing less than “the largest con in corporate history,” with a barrage of allegations about artificially inflated share prices and accounting games. Adani Group issued a strong denial, but investors weren’t waiting to decide who was right. In just a week, the total market value of a group of Adani-related companies, in industries including energy and construction, had fallen more than $90 billion.

“Dear friends,” Adani began his statement. Then he confirmed some bad news from the night before: Because of the steep drop in its share price, his flagship company, Adani Enterprises Ltd., would cancel its recent public sale of new shares. It was an implicit but stunning admission of the colossal damage to his business. But, Adani said, surely his investors wouldn’t waver in their support.

The short speech had a solemn air that reflected sudden uncertainty over not only Adani Group but also India’s aspirations for fast growth and global economic power. Here was an ultrawealthy businessman with deep ties to the country’s political elite, and somehow he couldn’t contain the damage from a volley by a tiny New York firm cheekily named for an exploded airship. As he often does, Adani ended his video with “