Here is what is going on: Adani Group — which Fitch Ratings describes as “deeply overleveraged” — had seen shares in its listed companies soar eightfold from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to the end of last year. Flagship Adani Enterprises saw its stock soar 29-fold. Other Adani entities also saw spectacular gains. Utility firm Adani Power was up ninefold in the same period; solar energy play Adani Green Energy was up 12-fold; ports operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone soared ninefold; and power supplier Adani Transmission about 11-fold. Founder Adani had added US$100 billion to his net worth in three years.
Last September, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani surpassed French luxury goods magnate and LVMH founder Bernard Arnault to become the second-richest man in the world. A school dropout whose firms own no disruptive proprietary technology, he had amassed a net worth of US$147 billion ($195 billion).
Adani, 60, had catapulted from being an operator of ports, airports, mining, cement and power to running one of the world’s fastest-growing business conglomerates. Over the past five months, US$88 billion has been wiped out from his net worth. Adani-controlled listed firms had more than US$120 billion shaved off their total market value.
