In a few days, the billionaire lost nearly 60 billion dollars, dropping him from third to fifteenth place in the ranking of the world's largest fortunes established by Forbes.

Sixty-year-old Gautam Adani describes himself as an introvert.

"I'm not a social person who wants to go to parties," he told the Financial Times in 2013.

Born in Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat in India, to a middle-class family, he dropped out of school to work briefly in the diamond industry before launching his export business in 1988.

In 1995, the businessman, who was then seeking to diversify his activities, won the contract to build and operate the commercial port of Mundra, which has since become the largest in India.

At the same time, he ventured into thermal power generation and coal mining at home and abroad.

In recent years, his conglomerate has made a foray into petrochemicals, cement, data management centers and copper refining.

Modi's close support

But controversies have marred some of his businesses.

Like its 2010 takeover of an untapped coalfield in Australia that sparked years of protests over concerns over the project's monumental environmental impact.

Or its coal mining projects in central India, where forests home to tribal communities have been cleared for mining operations.

Considered a close supporter of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the billionaire has in recent years inaugurated a green energy company with ambitious goals, investing in the government's strategic priorities.

In 2022, he launched a hostile takeover bid targeting broadcaster New Delhi Television (NDTV), which until then had been described as the last major “quasi-independent” voice in the Indian audiovisual landscape.

A maneuver that has aroused serious fears for the freedom of the press in this densely populated country.

The tycoon defended himself by telling the Financial Times that journalists must have the "courage" to say "when the government is doing the right thing every day".

"Deeply over-indebted"

The group's rapid expansion into capital-intensive businesses has raised concerns, however, with Fitch Group's CreditSights agency warning in 2022 that its empire was "deeply overleveraged".

Last week a report by US investment firm Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of using undisclosed related party transactions and earnings manipulation to "maintain the appearance of sound financial health and solvency" of its listed subsidiaries.

According to the report, a decades-long pattern of "government leniency on the group" has meant that investors, journalists, citizens and politicians have been unwilling to question the conduct of the group. group "for fear of reprisals".

Conglomerate Adani has lost more than $104 billion in market capitalization since the report was released, although its founder insisted on Thursday that the company's fundamentals were "very strong" and its balance sheet was healthy.

“This is not just an unwarranted attack on any specific company, but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the history of growth and ambition of India", the group defended itself on Sunday in a long statement which does not seem to have convinced investors.

"These issues go to the heart of India's corporate sector, where a number of family-controlled conglomerates dominate," Gary Dugan, chief executive of the Global CIO Office, told Bloomberg last week.

"By their very nature, they are opaque and global investors" must rely on companies' good faith, he said.

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© 2023 AFP