Gautam Adani
Adani in 2012
Born
Gautam Shantilal Adani

(1962-06-24) 24 June 1962
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
EducationGujarat University (dropped out, 1978)[1]
OccupationBusiness magnate
Years active1981–present
Title
SpousePriti Adani
Children2, including Karan
RelativesVinod Adani (brother)
Pranav Adani (nephew)

Gautam Shantilal Adani (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian billionaire businessman, who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.[2][3]

Adani has been described as being close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government.[3][4][5] This has led to allegations of cronyism,[6] as his firms have won many energy and infrastructure contracts in India and abroad after Modi became the Prime Minister of India.[7] In January 2023, following accusations of stock manipulation and fraud by American short selling activist firm Hindenburg Research,[8] In January 2024, the Supreme Court resolved the Adani Group stocks dispute arising from Hindenburg Research's allegations. The Court dismissed requests for an SIT or CBI investigation.[9][10] Adani's and his family's fortune has plummeted by over 50%[11][12][13][14] to an estimated US$54.2 billion, as of October 2023, while falling to the 23rd place on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list.[15] Times Magazine included him in the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.[16]

Early life

Adani was born on 24 June 1962 in a Gujarati Jain family to Shantilal Adani (father) and Shantaben Adani (mother) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.[1][17] He has 7 siblings. His parents had migrated from the town of Tharad in the northern part of Gujarat.[18] His father was a small textile merchant.[19]

He was educated at Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya school in Ahmedabad. He enrolled for a bachelor's degree in commerce at Gujarat University, but dropped out after the second year.[20] Adani was keen on business, but not his father's textile business.[21]

Career

As a teenager, Adani moved to Mumbai in 1978 to work as a diamond sorter for Mahendra Brothers.[22]

In 1981, his elder brother Mahasukhbhai Adani bought a plastics unit in Ahmedabad and invited him to manage the operations. This venture turned out to be Adani's gateway to global trading through polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports.[20]

In 1985, he started importing primary polymers for small-scale industries. In 1988, Adani established Adani Exports, now known as Adani Enterprises, the holding company of the Adani Group. Originally, the company dealt in agricultural and power commodities.[20]

In 1991, the economic liberalisation policies turned out to be favourable for his company and he started expanding the businesses into trading of metals, textiles, and agro products.[20][23]

In 1994, the Government of Gujarat announced managerial outsourcing of the Mundra Port and in 1995, Adani got the contract.[4]

In 1995, he set up the first jetty. Originally operated by Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone, the operations were transferred to Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ). Today, the company is the largest private multi-port operator. Mundra Port is the largest private sector port in India, with the capacity of handling close to 210 million tons of cargo per annum.[24][25]

In 1996, the power business arm of the Adani Group, Adani Power, was founded by Adani. Adani Power holds thermal power plants with a capacity of 4620MW, the largest private thermal power producer of the country.[26]

In 2002, Adani was arrested by Delhi Police in execution of a non-bailable warrant (NBW), following a cheating complaint by a top official of M S Shoes. The court withdrew the NBW the next day, after the court was informed that the parties were negotiating for a compromise.[27]

In 2006, Adani entered the power generation business.[28] From 2009 to 2012, he acquired Abbot Point Port in Australia and Carmichael coal mine in Queensland.[29]

In 2012, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had filed a charge sheet against twelve accused including the Adani for cheating & criminal conspiracy related to purchase and sale of shares. According to SFIO, Adani Agro allegedly provided funds and shares for running illegal activities. A local court in Mumbai discharged Adani & other accused of this case in May 2014.[30] However, in 2020, a Mumbai sessions court overturned the clean chit to Adani in this case.[31]

In May 2020, Adani won the world's largest solar bid by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) worth US$6 billion. The 8000MW photovoltaic power plant project will be taken up by Adani Green; Adani Solar will establish 2000MW of additional solar cell and module manufacturing capacity.[32][33]

In September 2020, Adani acquired a 74% stake in Mumbai International Airport, India's second busiest after Delhi.[34]

In November 2021, while speaking at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum, Adani said the group is investing US$70 billion in a new green energy business.[28][35][36] In July 2022, he offered new details on how this investment will be utilised to build three giant factories – solar, electrolyzer (to make green hydrogen), wind turbine plants.[37][38]

In February 2022, he became Asia's richest person, surpassing Mukesh Ambani,[39] and in August 2022, he was named the 3rd richest person in the world by Fortune.[40]

In May 2022, Adani family acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC from Swiss building materials giant Holcim Group for $10.5 billion, through an overseas special-purpose entity.[41]

In August 2022, AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL), a unit of Adani Group, declared that it planned to buy RRPR Holding, owner of 29.18% of national news broadcaster NDTV, and made an open offer to buy a further 26%. In a statement, NDTV said that Adani acquired his stake via a third party without informing the company's founders, former journalist Radhika Roy and her economist husband Prannoy Roy and that the deal was done “without discussion, consent or notice.”[42] This bid also raised concern regarding editorial independence in India, since Adani is considered to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.[3][43] By December 2022, Adani was described as controlling the largest shareholding in NDTV.[44][45] The Economist said that before Adani bought NDTV, the news channel was "critical of the government but is now supine."[5]

Allegations of fraud

In January 2023, Adani and his companies were accused of stock manipulation by New York-based investment firm Hindenburg Research in a report titled "Adani Group: How The World's 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History". Following that, Adani Group stocks plummeted $45 billion. The losses resulted in Adani dropping from the 3rd richest person in the world to 22nd on Forbes' billionaires tracker.[46][47] The report accused the group of having substantial debt and being on a "precarious financial footing", causing stocks of seven listed Adani companies to fall 3-7%. The report was released ahead of Adani Enterprises' follow-on public offering, which opened on Friday, 27 January 2023.[48] The Adani Group's CFO (Jugeshinder 'Robbie' Singh)[49] stated that the timing of the report's publication was a "brazen, mala fide intention" to damage the offering.[48] The Adani Enterprises public offering was cancelled on 1 February 2023.[50][51]

The Adani Group said that the Hindenburg Research report was "malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale" information,[48][52] and that it was "evaluating the relevant provisions under U.S. and Indian laws for remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research".[53][54] Alison Frankel (a senior legal writer at Reuters) wrote that it was unlikely that the Adani Group would sue Hindenburg in the U.S. because American courts usually regard financial analysis as protected opinion under American free speech laws.[55] "The Adani Group has published a 413-page rebuttal to claims by Hindenburg Research".[56][57][58]

OCCRP Report

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported in August 2023 that it had documents which prove how the Adani Group used individuals and front companies to buy and sell Adani stocks thus bypassing Indian securities laws that seek to prevent share price manipulation. The OCCRP named two individuals — Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling — as being responsible for stock trading in and on behalf of Adani Group stocks amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.[59][60]

Political views

Secretary of State John Kerry greets Gautam Adani, 2014.

Adani prefers to keep his personal life away from the media[61] but is widely known for being close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.[3][43] This has led to allegations of cronyism as his firms have won many Indian energy and infrastructure government contracts.[7] With an Indian government auditor accusing Modi in 2012 of giving low cost fuel from a Gujarat state-run gas company to Adani and other businesspeople.[62]

Adani and Modi have both denied allegations of cronyism.[6] The Economist has described Adani as "a master operator", skilled at "navigating the complicated legal and political landscape of Indian capitalism," although the magazine cautions that his firm is known for its "Byzantine" structure and opaque finances.[56]

Personal life

Gautam Adani is married to Priti Adani. The couple have two sons, Karan Adani and Jeet Adani.[63]

In January 1998, Adani and an associate, Shantilal Patel, were allegedly abducted and held hostage for ransom.[64][65] Two former gangsters Fazl-ur-Rehman and Bhogilal Darji, were accused of the kidnapping. They were acquitted in an Indian court in 2018, after Adani and Patel did not show up for depositions, despite multiple summons by the court.[65][6]

Adani was in the restaurant of Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai having dinner with another businessman at 21:50 on 26 November 2008 when the hotel was attacked by terrorists. The terrorists were only 15 feet (4.6 m) away from them. Adani hid in the hotel kitchen and later in the toilet, and came out safely at 08:45 the next day.[66][67][64]

Philanthropy

Adani's wife, Priti Adani, has been the chairperson of the Adani Foundation since she founded it 1996.[68][69] This is the corporate social responsibility (philanthropy) arm of the Adani Group and has a presence in 18 states of India.[69]

In March 2020, Adani contributed ₹100 crore (equivalent to ₹118 crore or US$15 million in 2023) to the PM Cares Fund through his group's philanthropy arm, to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.[70] A contribution of ₹5 crore (equivalent to ₹5.9 crore or US$740,000 in 2023) was made to the Gujarat CM Relief Fund and ₹1 crore (equivalent to ₹1.2 crore or US$150,000 in 2023) to the Maharashtra CM Relief Fund.[71]

Adani-led Adani Group imported four ISO cryogenic tanks filled with 80 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to Mundra in Gujarat. The group also secured 5,000 medical-grade oxygen cylinders from Linde Saudi Arabia. In a Twitter post, Adani shared that each day his group is supplying 1,500 cylinders with medical oxygen to wherever they are needed in the Kutch district of Gujarat.[72] In June 2022, Adani committed to donate Rs 60,000 crore ($7.7 billion) to social causes. Adani's corpus will be administered by the Adani Foundation, making it one of the biggest transfers to a philanthropic trust in India.[73]

References

  1. 1 2 "Gautam Adani- College Dropout To Billionaire Entrepreneur". Prime Insights.
  2. ↑ "Gautam Adani Bloomberg Index". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Mukherjee, Andy. "The World's Second-Biggest Fortune Deserves a Keener Spotlight". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 Mehta, Harit (10 April 2014). "Gautam Adani, the baron to watch out for if Narendra Modi becomes king". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  5. 1 2 "The humbling of Gautam Adani is a test for Indian capitalism". The Economist. 9 February 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Biswas, Soutik (2 December 2022). "Gautam Adani: The school dropout's high-risk journey to become Asia's richest man". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  7. 1 2 Verma, Mimansa; Sharma, Niharika (13 December 2022). "For India, the Adani Group is growing too big to fail". Quartz (publication). Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Adani Group: How The World's 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History". Hindenburg Research. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Mahapatra, Dhananjay (4 January 2024). "No inadequacy in Sebi probe: Supreme Court". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  10. ↑ Rajagopal, Krishnadas (3 January 2024). "Supreme Court upholds SEBI probe, turns focus on 'conduct' of Hindenburg". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "How Gautam Adani Lost More Than $50 Billion In A Week—And His Ranking As Asia's Richest". Forbes. 26 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Adani's $58 Billion Wealth Wipeout in Six Days Has Few Parallels". Bloomberg.com. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  13. ↑ Iordache, Ruxandra (2 February 2023). "Adani losses top $100 billion in the wake of Hindenburg Research report". CNBC. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  14. ↑ Shankar, Vivek (31 January 2023). "This Mogul Lost Tens of Billions of Dollars in Days. What Happened?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
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  16. ↑ "Gautam Adani: The 100 Most Influential People of 2022". Time. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
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  18. ↑ "A look into profile of billionaire Gautam Adani". India Today. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  19. ↑ "Top 10 Gujrati Billionaires". India TV. 1 August 2015.
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  22. ↑ Tumbe, Chinmay (12 December 2017). "Transnational Indian Business in the Twentieth Century". Business History Review. 91 (4): 651–679. doi:10.1017/S0007680517001350. S2CID 158483062.
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  24. ↑ Manoj, P. (3 August 2017). "APSEZ set to become top container port operator". The Hindu Businessline. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
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  26. ↑ "Adani Solar Project". The Economic Times. 13 June 2016.
  27. ↑ "Court withdraws NBWs against Adani". The Times of India. 13 December 2002.
  28. 1 2 Kay, Chris; Sanjai, P R. "The World's Third-Richest Man Sells the World a Green Dream Built on Coal". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
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  30. ↑ "Adani brothers discharged in cheating case by Maharashtra court". The Economic Times. 22 June 2014.
  31. ↑ Narayan, Khushboo (10 January 2020). "Court overturns clean chit to Adanis in share-rigging case". The Indian Express.
  32. ↑ SI Reporter (9 June 2020). "Adani Green hits new high on winning world's largest solar bid worth $7 bn". Business Standard. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  33. ↑ "Adani wins world's largest solar project; to invest Rs 45,000 crore". The Financial Express (India). Press Trust of India. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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  35. ↑ "Adani to invest $70 billion in renewable energy, produce cheapest hydrogen". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  36. ↑ "Gautam Adani says $50-70 bn investment planned across energy chain". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  37. ↑ Singh, Rajesh Kumar; Sanjai, P R (7 September 2022). "Billionaire Adani Adds More Detail on $70 Billion Green Push". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  38. ↑ Sanjai, P R (11 November 2021). "Gautam Adani's $70 Billion Pledge Now Includes Greenest Data Centers". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  39. ↑ Pratap, Aayushi (3 February 2022). "Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani Becomes Asia's Richest Person". Forbes. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  40. ↑ Sazonov, Alexander (29 August 2022). "A college dropout is now the 3rd richest person in the world". Fortune. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  41. ↑ "Adani to acquire Holcim India assets for $10.5 bn". The Times of India. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  42. ↑ Shih, Gary; Masih, Niha. "Fears for independent media in India as tycoon eyes major news channel". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  43. 1 2 "India tycoon Adani in hostile bid for news channel NDTV". BBC News. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  44. ↑ Nair, Ravi; Kumar, Raksha; Chaurasia, Atul; Komireddi, Kapil (17 December 2022). "India: Why is Gautam Adani so interested in NDTV?". Al Jazeera.
  45. ↑ Thomas, Chris (23 December 2022). Syamnath, Devika (ed.). "Billionaire Adani to control nearly 65% of NDTV as founders sell stake". Reuters.
  46. ↑ AFP (27 January 2023). "Fraud claims wipe $45 billion off India's Adani group stocks". Dawn. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  47. ↑ Barrett, Jonathan (27 January 2023). "US activist investor who accused Adani of 'biggest con in corporate history' dares Indian group to sue". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  48. 1 2 3 "Adani Group responds to Hindenburg report, calls it 'malicious'". Mint. 25 January 2023.
  49. ↑ "Our Leadership – One Vision One Team", Adani Group
  50. ↑ "What next for Gautam Adani's embattled empire?". The Economist. 1 February 2023.
  51. ↑ "Adani vs. Hindenburg: The Story So Far". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  52. ↑ Pyasi, Jayshree; Kalra, Aditya; Shah, Aditi (30 January 2023). "Adani hits back at Hindenburg, says it made all disclosures". Reuters. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  53. ↑ "India's Adani Group says evaluating action against Hindenburg Research". Reuters. 27 January 2023.
  54. ↑ Ludlow, Edward; Burton, Katherine (26 January 2023). "Hindenburg vs Adani: The Short Seller Taking On Asia's Richest Person". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  55. ↑ Frankel, Alison (2 February 2023). "Column: Adani Group threatens, but Hindenburg Research rarely sued in U.S." Reuters.
  56. 1 2 "A short-seller rattles Gautam Adani's empire". The Economist. 27 January 2023. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  57. ↑ Adani Response (PDF). Adani Group (Report). 29 January 2023.
  58. ↑ "Indian Supreme Court declines new inquiry against Gautam Adani". 5 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  59. ↑ Mangnale, Anand; Nair, Ravi; Arcadio, NBR (31 August 2023). "Documents Provide Fresh Insight Into Allegations of Stock Manipulation That Rocked India's Powerful Adani Group". occrp.org. Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  60. ↑ "India's Adani Group stung by fresh controversy". bbc.com. BBC. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  61. ↑ Rajpoot, Preeti (25 July 2023). "Gautam Adani Net Worth 2023: age, career, wife & unstoppable income -". Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  62. ↑ Dasgupta, Manas (31 March 2012). "CAG slams Modi regime for financial irregularities". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  63. ↑ "Gautam Adani Biography". mapsofindia.com. 2 June 2015.
  64. 1 2 "Throwback: When India's fifth richest man was kidnapped for ransom". Times Now News. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  65. 1 2 "Two accused of abducting Gautam Adani 20 years ago acquitted". The Indian Express. Ahmedabad. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  66. ↑ Sazonov, Alexander; Shrivastava, Bhuma; Sanjai, P R (13 December 2020). "Billionaire Survivor of Ransom, Terror Attacks Now Rivals Ambani". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  67. ↑ Shukla, Nimish (28 November 2008). "Gautam Adani felt safe in Taj toilet". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  68. ↑ "Meet Priti Adani, billionaire Gautam Adani's wife and force behind Adani Foundation". DNA India. 23 January 2023.
  69. 1 2 "Gautam Adani ushers in Gujarati New Year at Adani Foundation volunteer's Mundra home". Asian News International. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  70. ↑ Joshi, Manas (29 March 2020). "Gautam Adani gives Rs 100 crore to PM Fund to fight coronavirus". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  71. ↑ "Billionaire Gautam Adani commits to support fight against coronavirus". The Economic Times. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  72. ↑ My Nation. "To improve oxygen availability, Adani group imports cryogenic tanks from Saudi Arabia". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  73. ↑ "Adani commits to give away Rs 60,000 crore in charity". The Times of India. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
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