Hindenburg Research: The US firm that accused Gautam Adani’s company of fraud has been shut down

Starting in 2017, Hindenburg Research became famous for exposing alleged financial irregularities in several large enterprises. The company’s reports have resulted in businesses, both in India and abroad, losing billions of dollars in market value.

“Almost 100 individuals have been charged civilly or criminally by regulators at least in part through our work, including billionaires and oligarchs. We shook some empires that we felt needed to be shaken,” wrote Mr. Anderson in the statement., In addition where he announced his decision.

In 2020, the company accused electric truck maker Nikola Corp of misleading investors about its technology. In 2022, the company’s founder, Trevon Milton, was found guilty of lying to investors and convicted of fraud.

In 2023, it published a report accusing the Adani group of years of “stock manipulation and accounting fraud”. Adani and his company have denied the allegations, calling them “malicious” and an “attack on India”.

In the days following the report, the Adani group saw around $108bn wiped off its market value but the company’s financial health has bounced back.

Last year, Hindenburg Research accused Madhabi Puri Buch – head of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) – of having links with offshore funds used by the Adani group. Both Ms. Buch and Adanis denied any wrongdoing.

The allegations by the firm have sparked a political row in the country, with India’s main opposition Congress party accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not taking action against the Adani group.

Adani, who is one of Asia’s richest men, is considered close to Modi and has long faced accusations from opposition politicians that he has benefited from his political connections, which he denies.

In his statement, Mr. Anderson expressed his desire to open the Hindenburg research methodology in the future.

“In the next six months I plan to work on a series of materials and videos to open source every aspect of our model and how we conduct our investigations,” he wrote.

Short-sellers like Hindenburg bet against shares of companies they believe have been involved in fraud or other financial wrongdoings, based on their investigations. The process involves borrowing shares, immediately selling them and then buying them back when the value drops to pocket the difference.