NEW DELHI:
Indian tycoon Gautam Adani lost his title of Asia’s richest man after a $86 billion rout in shares of his listed companies sparked by a U.S.-based short-seller’s scathing report.
Hindenburg Research had raised concerns about high debt at the group and accused it of improper use of entities set up in offshore tax havens – a charge the group denies. The
freefall in the share price of seven listed Adani Group entities also forced him to pull the plug on a $2.5 billion share sale in his flagship company, Adani Enterprises, late on Wednesday.
The school-dropout-turned-billionaire called off the share sale citing market conditions in a dramatic reversal from Tuesday when he had succeeded in drumming up investor support, with the share sale fully subscribed. Here are some facts about Gautam Adani, a first-generation tycoon, and his rags-to-riches story.
- Adani was born on June 24, 1962, in Ahmedabad city in the western Indian state of Gujarat – from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also comes. * He dropped out of school at age 15 after completing class 10.
- He established the Adani Group in 1988, beginning with commodities trading. * He is married to dentist Priti Adani and has two sons, Karan and Jeet.
- Elder son Karan is head of Adani Ports and SEZ, and holds an economics degree from Purdue University in the United States. Karan is married to Paridhi, the daughter of Cyril Shroff, who runs one of the biggest corporate law firms in the country. * Jeet is vice president, Adani Group finance.
- Adani’s brother Rajesh sits on the board of directors of the flagship company Adani Enterprises. * Adani’s nephew Pranav also sits on the board of Adani Enterprises and heads the company’s city gas distribution, agro, real estate and natural resources businesses.
- Adani was one of many people stuck inside Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel when in 2008 gunmen went on a killing spree. REUTERS
