Adani: The 'Resilient' Fighter

Gautam Adani's comeback strategy has led to an 85% rise in group revenues in FY23, post the Hindenburg rout.

- P.B. Jayakumar

GAUTAM ADANI

WEALTH: ₹5,23,538 crore

THE WORD ‘RESILIENCE’ has great significance for Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group. Addressing the annual general meeting after the controversial Hindenburg Research report caused his group’s wealth to erode by almost half, Adani told shareholders, “When I look back along this journey (since the IPO of flagship Adani Enterprises 30 years ago), if there is one characteristic that has continued to define us, it has been our resilience.” He elaborated on what resilience meant for him and the 44,000-plus Adani Group employees — to get up stronger after setbacks, belief in the nation and the passion to follow one’s dreams.

On January 24, when the Hindenburg Research report came out accusing it of financial fraud and stock manipulation, the market capitalisation of Adani Group was ₹19.18 lakh crore. Till then, the valuation of Adani Group companies has been rising, catapulting Gautam Adani’s wealth from about $9 billion in 2020 to $90 billion in 2022. Within 10 days of the report, the group’s market cap fell to about ₹10 lakh crore. Flagship Adani Enterprises (AEL) had to call off the ₹20,000-crore follow-on public offering (FPO), the biggest in India’s history.