How the $58 billion loss by Adani in 6 days compares to the loss of wealth by Bankman-Fried
Adani had surpassed Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to become the world’s third richest person by the end of 2022, with a $121 billion empire
Gautam Adani’s fortune has been depleted by about $58 billion in six days, a precipitous drop with few precedents in history. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani ‘s collapse is more than three times that of ‘crypto king’ Sam Bankman-Fried , who lost $16 billion in less than a week. Following the collapse of the crypto exchange, the CEO of FTX lost all of his wealth.
With a $121 billion empire, Adani will have surpassed Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to become the world’s third richest person by the end of 2022. Under pressure from a report by New York-based short-seller Hindenburg Research on Adani Group’s alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme, the tycoon’s net worth has dropped to $61.3 billion, putting him in 21st place on the billionaire list.
According to Bloomberg, the severity, scale, and speed of Adani’s fall are unprecedented in the world. Despite becoming the first person in history to lose $200 billion after Tesla shares plummeted in 2022, Elon Musk has since added $36.5 billion to his fortune.
The shocking decline of Asia’s former richest man, now second-richest after Mukesh Ambani, highlights Adani’s astonishing rise of over $100 billion in three years.
With shares in its flagship Adani Enterprises down roughly 60%, the Adani Group’s listed companies have lost more than $100 billion in market value since the damning report. While the Adani Group has repeatedly denied all allegations, calling the report “bogus” and threatening legal action, it has been forced to cancel India’s largest follow-on share sale (worth $2.5 billion).
Several media reports have raised concerns about the State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) being overexposed as a result of Adani’s stock rout. In the midst of increased uncertainty, the Reserve Bank of India dismissed concerns about Indian banks’ “exposure” to the Adani conglomerate on Thursday, saying the banking sector was “resilient and strong.”
