The ramifications for Adani’s personal fortune were swift — his net worth tumbled by $US5.5 billion ($7.7 billion),according to the Bloomberg index.
Hindenburg has targeted about 30 companies since 2020,and their stocks on average lost about 15 per cent the next day,according to calculations by Bloomberg News. The shares on average were down 26 per cent six months later.
Even as Adani disputes the allegations,some fund managers are likely to bail out of Adani stocks because of the heightened focus on environmental,social and governance criteria.
“Given Hindenburg’s reputation,one can assume that these allegations have been thoroughly researched,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere,head of trading at asset manager MPPM GmbH.
With the campaign,Hindenburg is taking on its biggest target by far and making a foray into Indian stocks that’s rare for a US short seller.
Hindenburg is best known for its critical reports on companies in the electric vehicle industry. It was instrumental in bringing down the founder of Nikola,which was accused by Hindenburg in 2020 of being built on “dozens of lies”. Nikola founder Trevor Milton eventually stepped down as chairman and was found guilty of securities fraud. More recent targets include Clover Health and Lordstown Motors.