Billionaire Gautam Adani’s Wealth Jumps After India’s Supreme Court Concludes Hindenburg-Triggered Hearing

Shares of billionaire Gautam Adani’s 10 listed companies surged on Tuesday, the first trading day following a long weekend in India, after the country’s Supreme Court reserved its judgement on the long-running Adani-Hindenburg saga last week. The court concluded hearings on multiple petitions about the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s investigation into the allegations of stock manipulation that were made against Adani by U.S.-based Hindenburg Research ten months ago.

Investors took a positive cue from the court’s direction to SEBI to conclude its investigation and the observation by the chief justice of India that media reports about the matter could not be treated as “gospel truth.” SEBI on its part assured the court that it did not need an extension and had completed its investigation of 22 out of 24 courses.

The improved sentiment drove up shares of Adani companies between 9% (Adani Enterprises) to 20% (Adani Total Gas) in a single day. Adani Energy Solutions recorded the second highest gain of 19% while shares of Adani Green Energy, Adani Power and broadcaster NDTV were all up 12%.

Tuesday’s buying frenzy pushed up Adani’s net worth by $6 billion and, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires ranking, his estimated net worth now stands at $57.1 billion, making him the 23^rd richest person in the world. That’s still a massive fall for someone who was once ranked as the world’s third-richest person with a net worth of $126 billion.

Though the Adani Group had said that Hindenburg’s allegations are baseless and that the report had not affected operations, the group’s shares got hammered, wiping out billions from Adani’s net worth after the report was published.

In May, an expert committee constituted by SEBI had concluded that there was “no evident pattern of manipulation” but in August a new investigative report exposed alleged links between Adani and offshore investors, causing group shares to slide. The group rejected the allegations stating that all transactions were done in according with the law.

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