Money Talks: Adani’s short story
Money Talks from The Economist
The Economist
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2023
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just weeks ago, Gautam Adani was the third richest person in the world. But he was caught short when Hindenburg Research, a small American short-seller, issued a report that spooked investors, wiping $100bn from the value of Adani firms.
On this week’s podcast, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwood and Tom Lee-Devlin examine the allegations levelled at Adani’s firms, which the company has forcefully denied. The Economist’s Mumbai bureau chief, Tom Easton, talks them through Hindenburg’s report and Adani’s response. Analyst Mahesh Vyas considers the impact on Adani’s ability to borrow to fund infrastructure projects. And short-seller Andrew Left describes what it’s like to hit send on a report that’s intended to crash a firm’s stock price.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Money talks from the economist is sponsored by Invest Puerto Rico. |
| 0:06.0 | More than just a Caribbean paradise, Puerto Rico is a business powerhouse. |
| 0:11.0 | This U.S. territory is a fast-growing hub for innovators. |
| 0:15.0 | Puerto Rico boasts numerous tax credits, business incentives, |
| 0:19.0 | and world-class talent that take your business to the next level. |
| 0:23.0 | Find out why at InvestPR.org. |
| 0:26.0 | Gamechangers, welcome home. |
| 0:30.0 | A Dhani Group, where dreams turn to reality. |
| 0:40.0 | Until just over two weeks ago, that was the impression many investors had |
| 0:45.0 | of the Dhani Group, one of India's great success stories. |
| 0:50.0 | In the 90s, we ventured into natural resources with coal trading. |
| 0:56.0 | At the same time, it moved into logistics and now operates India's largest port. |
| 1:15.0 | And it didn't stop there. |
| 1:17.0 | In little over a decade, you've become India's largest private sector power producer, |
| 1:22.0 | port operator, airport operator, consumer gas business, |
| 1:26.0 | and electric transmission company. |
| 1:29.0 | In the last three years, the value of shares in a Dhani's companies |
| 1:33.0 | have increased more than 600%. |
| 1:36.0 | And that has made the group's founder and boss, Gautama Dhani, |
| 1:40.0 | India's richest man and the third wealthiest person in the world. |
| 1:44.0 | With 137.4 billion dollar fortune, Dhani has overtaken |
| 1:49.0 | LVHM Chairman Bernard Arnold, and now trails just tech titans Elon Musk |
... |
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