India’s wealthiest businessmen, Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, experienced significant declines in their net worth following a market crash on Tuesday, spurred by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) failure to secure a majority in its general elections, contrary to earlier exit poll predictions.
However, the stock market showed signs of recovery in early trade on Wednesday, with Sensex gaining over 1,000 points and Nifty adding over 500 points.
Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, saw his net worth plunge by $24.9 billion in a single day, bringing his total to $97.5 billion as of Wednesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Adani now ranks 15th among the world’s richest individuals and is the second-richest person in India, following Mukesh Ambani.
Adani Group stocks faced a setback on June 4, with shares plummeting by up to 18%. This sharp decline followed a period of gains in the preceding trading sessions.
The sudden drop was linked to investors unwinding speculative positions, potentially to lock in profits or reduce market exposure.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, also saw a significant decline in his net worth, with an $8.99 billion drop. His total net worth now stands at $106 billion, placing him 11th on the list of the world’s richest individuals.
The dramatic loss for Adani is a stark reminder of how closely the fortunes of his conglomerate are tied to the political landscape in India.
This market turmoil represents the largest single-day rout for the $189 billion Adani conglomerate, surpassing the impact of allegations of corporate misconduct by Hindenburg Research over a year ago.
The overall market losses following the Hindenburg attack were larger, exceeding $150 billion at their peak, although the group had nearly recovered that value by Monday’s close.
