Gautam Adani was once the second richest in the world, now at number 30; How did the wealth slip away in 3 and a half years? complete timeline
New Delhi The name which was counted among the top rich people of the world just three and a half years ago, has today slipped far down in the list. Gautam Adani became the second richest person in the world in 2022, he has now reached the 30th position. According to Forbes' Realtime Billionaire Index, his wealth decreased by 9.29% i.e. about 5.6 billion dollars (more than Rs 51 thousand crore) in just 24 hours.
Now the question is, what happened in the last three and a half years that their wealth has reduced from 100 billion dollars to 155 billion dollars to only 55 billion dollars. Let us understand the complete timeline.
2022: When Gautam Adani becomes the second richest in the world
In the year 2022, Gautam Adani's net worth had reached around $ 155 billion (more than Rs 14 lakh crore). At that time he had also left behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The tremendous rise in Adani Group's shares, expansion in infrastructure and energy sectors took his wealth to record highs.
2023: Hindenburg report gives first blow to Adani
The report of Hindenburg Research came out on 24 January 2023. Due to which serious allegations were made against Gautam Adani like fraud, stock manipulation, accounting fraud and debt-overvalued shares. Immediately after this report, the shares of listed companies of Adani Group fell by 50 to 83 percent. Selling by foreign investors also increased.
And within no time there was a loss of about $100 billion to $150 billion in the combined market value of Adani Group. The special thing is that Gautam Adani's personal net worth also decreased to about 46-62 billion dollars. And from here the process of continuous decline in Adani's wealth started. The special thing is that after this report, Adani fell out of the top-10 in the list of global rich.
Also read- American SEC took a big step against Gautam Adani, preparing to bypass the Indian government and send summons directly.
Second shock: pressure on debt and funding
Adani Group expanded largely with the help of debt. After the fall in shares, questions started being raised about the loan. Funding of some projects became expensive. There were also difficulties in raising new capital. This had a direct impact on Adani's net worth.
Third shock: Regulatory and global environment
Regulatory strictness has increased in the last few years. Global interest rates remained high and geopolitical uncertainty increased. All these reasons have put pressure on the infrastructure and energy sectors, where Adani Group has the largest stake.
2023-2024: Supreme Court and SEBI investigation
In the year 2023, the Supreme Court of India directed SEBI to investigate the allegations made in the report and rejected the proposal of CBI-SIT investigation. The impact on the shares and the group's cash was somewhat mitigated by January 2024, but the dispute remained relatively ongoing.
September 2025: Clean chit on Hindenburg claims
SEBI gave clean chit to many major claims of Hindenburg. SEBI said that no violation of rules was found in the investigation into some of the allegations made by Hindenburg. After this decision, many Adani Group shares rose and investors' confidence came back.
23 January 2026: Big allegation by Trump government organization
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought permission from the court to send e-mail notifications directly to Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in connection with a separate civil fraud and bribery charges. The news caused a sharp decline in Adani Group's shares, resulting in a loss of approximately $12.5 billion in market capitalisation. After this, Gautam Adani's wealth once again declined drastically.
Let us tell you that this matter is of November 2024. When in a complaint the SEC alleged that the Adani family "violated the anti-fraud provisions of the securities exchange laws by knowingly or recklessly making false and misleading statements regarding a debt offering issued in September 2021 with respect to Adani Green Energy Limited."
Also read- New twist in Gautam Adani case! Why did the Law Ministry reverse the US SEC's summons? Gave this reason
2025-26: Wealth shrinks to $55.3 billion
According to Forbes, Gautam Adani's net worth has declined to $55.3 billion in 24 hours. That means there has been a decline of more than $100 billion from its peak till now. However, Adani Group has increased focus on debt reduction, asset monetization and adding new investors. If confidence returns in the market and cash flow from projects strengthens, Adani's assets may stabilize.
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