Hindenburg Shuts Shop After Wiping Out Rs 10-Lakh Crore In Adani Investors' Wealth

The US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research announced the firm's closure after targeting billionaire Gautam Adani—which triggered a wealth loss of as much as Rs 10 lakh crore to the conglomerate's investors.

Founder Nate Anderson announced plans to disband the US-based investment research firm, saying, "We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking."

“Nearly 100 individuals have been charged civilly or criminally by regulators at least in part through our work, including billionaires and oligarchs,” he wrote in his blog. This announcement comes after working through the last of its ideas and handing off tips on suspected Ponzi schemes to regulators, he said.

Two reports by Hindenburg Research accused Gautam Adani's conglomerate of orchestrating "the largest con in corporate history." The second report targeted SEBI, India's securities market regulator, and collectively wiped out over Rs 10 lakh crore of investor wealth in the Adani Group.

The first report, released on Jan. 25, 2023, triggered a massive Rs 8.13 lakh crore decline in the group's market capitalisation. The latest report, published last November, further eroded wealth by Rs 2.30 lakh crore. This is net of all the acquisitions made after the acquisitions made after.

The flagship company, Adani Enterprises Ltd., faced the most damage, losing Rs 2.73 lakh crore in market value across both instances. Adani Total Gas Ltd. and Adani Green Energy Ltd. followed, with market cap declines of Rs 2.3 lakh crore and Rs 2.03 lakh crore, respectively.

The extent of the fall was taken until the flagship Adani Enterprises began recovering from its low.

The conglomerate posted a strong comeback after the 2023 report after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit and dismissed all allegations made by the short-seller.

The top court ruled that petitioners could not provide enough material to transfer the Adani-Hindenburg probe to a special investigation team.

Later in November 2024, Hindenburg accused the Securities and Exchange Board of India's Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of a conflict of interest while investigating allegations made against the Adani Group. This was also strongly denied by the Buch and the Adani Group.

In a statement, co-signed with her husband, Dhaval Buch, the Indian market regulator's Chairman has called it a "character assassination attempt" because a enforcement action and show-cause notice was issued to the Nate Anderson-led company around a month back.

SEBI issued a show cause notice to Hindenburg Research LLC, Nathan Anderson and the entities of Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investor Mark Kingdon for trading violations in the scrip of Adani Enterprises leading up to the Hindenburg Report and thereafter.