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PremiumHindenburg news LIVE Updates: Hindenburg Research's founder Nathan Anderson on Wednesday annouced to disband the firm whose reports sparked heavy short-selling by investors and investigations by authorities, wiping billions from the market values of companies including India's Adani Group and U.S.-based Nikola.
Meanwhile, as soon as the Indian markets opened on Thursday, Adani group stocks started rallying high.
Nathan Anderson, who started Hindenburg in 2017, cited the toll of the "rather intense, and at times, all-encompassing" nature of the work as the reason for his decision, in a website post published on Wednesday.
In his farewell letter, he wrote, “I write this from a place of joy. Building this has been a life’s dream. I did not know at the outset if it would be possible to find a fulfilling path. This wasn’t an easy option, but I was naïve to the danger and felt drawn to it magnetically."
He goes on to add,“…it wasn’t always obvious to me, but I now view all of this as a love story. To my wife, you have been so patient with me. It has not been easy, to put it mildly, and I am forever grateful that you have sacrificed so much and pushed forward with me. And now, my dear, we get to enjoy it together for as long as this world will let us.
“To my family and friends, I’m sorry for the times I have ignored you while I let my attention be drawn away. I can’t wait to have more time to share with you together. Lastly, I want to express how grateful I am to our readers," he goes on to conclude.
Short-sellers like Anderson, who managed his firm's own money but not that of others, bet against companies they believe have accounting issues, mismanagement or fraud, which they find usually after a long period of investigation.
Hindenburg Research was started by Nathan Anderson in 2017. He started the company with 11 team members.
“I hired each of them not because we needed workers, but because when our paths crossed and I could see who they were, I realized it was madness not to bring them on."
They are all smart, focused, and fun to work with. Little to no ego, he said
BJP on Monday accused the opposition party's leaders of colluding with “foreign forces" that want to destabilise India and asked Sonia Gandhi to disclose her role as the "co-president" in a George Soros Foundation-funded organisation's activities.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that a "systematic anti-India experiment" was underway and the dots were now connecting.
“The Congress’ hand is with foreign forces. It’s clearly visible now. The Congress wants to make the country’s condition worse," he said, a day after the BJP alleged that Sonia Gandhi had links to the Forum of the Democratic Leaders-Asia Pacific (FDL-AP) Foundation, an organisation financed by George Soros Foundation, which has backed the idea of Kashmir as an independent nation.
Shares of Adani Power surged 9.21 per cent, Adani Green Energy soared 8.86 per cent, Adani Enterprises climbed 7.72 per cent, Adani Total Gas jumped 7.10 per cent, NDTV rallied 7 per cent and Adani Energy Solutions advanced 6.63 per cent on the BSE.
The stock of Adani Ports climbed 5.48 per cent, Ambuja Cements jumped 4.55 per cent, ACC shot-up by 4.14 per cent, Sanghi Industries (3.74 per cent) and Adani Wilmar (0.54 per cent).
Political reactions around the country started pouring in as soon a Hindenburg Research announced to shut shop.
BJP leader Amit Malviya said that Hindenburg's decision to shutdown operation was no surprise as the new US Administration was looking to investigate the firm's operations.
"Hindenburg Research's decision to disband comes as little surprise, coinciding with the Trump administration's transition into office. As the US Department of Justice plans to investigate the firm's operations, it's worth reflecting on how Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party relied on Hindenburg's reports. They frequently held press conferences and disrupted parliamentary proceedings, basing their actions on findings from this dubious George Soros-funded organization. Hindenburg and its sponsors targeted the Indian stock market, which sees massive participation from retail investors, with the Congress party acting in alignment with their sinister agenda," Malviya posted on X.
Adani Group stocks jumped over 5% after Hindenburg Research announced to shut operations.
Among the Adani Group stocks, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy and Adani Power shares rallied 5.5% each, while Adani Ports & SEZ, Adani Energy Solutions and Adani Total Gas shares gained over 4% each. Ambuja Cement, ACC and NDTV were also trading up to 4% higher each in early trade on January 16. Meanwhile, Adani Wilmar shares were trading flat.
The Hindeberg allegations against the Adani Group created massive political uproar with several oppostion leaders, including Rahul Gsadhi, repetedly attacking the government over it.
The recovery mode in the Indian stock markets continued on Thursday, with both indices surging in the opening session.
The Nifty 50 index opened at 23,377.25 points, gaining 164.05 points or 0.71 per cent, while the BSE Sensex index opened at 77,317.18 points, up 593.10 points or 0.77 per cent.
Experts noted that the selling pressure by bears, caused by weak sentiments, is creating a hurdle for the bull rally. For a strong recovery in Indian markets, the intensity of foreign outflows needs to reduce.
In a editorial arcticle for a leading newspaper, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said that the company's experience with the Hindenberg allegations has taught them a valuable lesson.
Writing for the paper a year after the allegations first broke, Adani said they are "accustomed to facing lies and baseless allegations", adding that the company gave a "comprehensive response" and "moved forward".
He further said that the attack was uniquely "two-dimensional - financial and political", adding that both aspects influenced each other. He also said the media had contributed to "spreading corrosive lies that significantly impacted our portfolio's market cap".
As market opens, Adani Group stocks, from Adani Ent, Adani Ports to Adani Power, jump up to 5% on Thursday.
The initial bounce came after afterNate Anderson announced to shut down operations for Hindenburg Research
Hindenburg Research report against the Adani Group, titled ‘Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History’ came out in January 2023.
It alleged that the conglomerate was “engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades".
The short-seller also accused the Adani family members of creating offshore shell companies in tax havens such as Mauritius, the UAE, and the Caribbean Islands, using forged import-export documentation to show fake revenue, and laundering money from their listed public companies.
However, the conglomerate denied all the allegations.
Adani Group stocks will be in focus on Thursday after Hindenburg Research, the short-seller behind the $100 billion Adani Group shares sell-off, is shutting down.
The US-based Hindenburg Research is being “disbanded", its founder Nathan Anderson said in a note.
Hindenburg Research published reports against the Indian conglomerate in 2023. The short-seller accused Adani Group of using offshore tax havens improperly, a charge which the company denied.
Praising his team, he said in the farewell letter, one at a time, and without a clear plan, we built a team of 11 incredible people. I hired each of them not because we needed workers, but because when our paths crossed and I could see who they were, I realized it was madness not to bring them on.
They are all smart, focused, and fun to work with. Little to no ego. When you meet them, they are all very nice and polite. But when it comes to this field, they are ruthless assassins, capable of world-class work. Like me, our team didn’t come from traditional finance backgrounds. My first hire often describes himself as a former bartender. We all have a shared view of the world, a mostly calm exterior, and a similar burning underlying intensity. They are all family to me.
We have all worked extremely hard, with a focus on precision and letting the evidence dictate our words.
Sometimes this meant taking big swings and taking on fights that are much bigger than any of us as individuals. Fraud, corruption, and negativity often seem overwhelming. Early on, a sense of justice was usually elusive. When it happened, it was tremendously fulfilling. It kept us going when we needed it.
And boy did we have an impact, eventually—more than I imagined was possible at the outset. Nearly 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 shaking.
Amid the latest Hindenburg development, Ben Foldy, WSJ journalist, informed that he is currently writing a book on Nathan Anderson and Hindenberg Research
Hindenburg accused Adani Group of using offshore tax havens improperly.
U.S. prosecutors announced in November that Gautam Adani, the billionaire chair of Adani Group and one of the world's richest people, had been indicted in New York over his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.
However, the Adani Group denied all the allegations
Responding to Hindenburg's allegation, Carvana spokesperson said, “The arguments in today’s report are intentionally misleading and inaccurate and have already been made numerous times by other short sellers seeking to benefit from a decline in our stock price."
Since its initial public offering seven years ago, Carvana has been one of the most heavily researched public companies, she adds.
Hindenburg Research recently noted that Carvana Co’s subprime loan portfolio carries substantial risk and its growth is unsustainable.
Taking a short position on Carvana’s stock after conducting research that included interviewing former employees, its report, titled: “Carvana: A Father-Son Accounting Grift for the Ages," made several claims, including that Carvana has lax underwriting standards and uses a company owned by the father of Chief Executive Officer Ernest Garcia III to boost results.
The report’s overarching claim is that Carvana is using dubious tactics to help results, while hiding from investors the risk of its loan portfolio. This, according to the report, is being done to lift shares and allow Garcia and his father, Ernie Garcia II, to profit.
Explaining the decision to shut shop, Nate Anderson said, “There is not one specific thing—no particular threat, no health issue, and no big personal issue."
“Someone once told me that at a certain point a successful career becomes a selfish act. Early on, I felt I needed to prove some things to myself. I have now finally found some comfort with myself, probably for the first time in my life. I probably could have had it all along had I let myself, but I needed to put myself through a bit of hell first."
Hinting that the project was hampering his personal life, he said, “The intensity and focus has come at the cost of missing a lot of the rest of the world and the people I care about. I now view Hindenburg as a chapter in my life, not a central thing that defines me."
Nate Anderson, 40, made international waves in January 2023, publishing a report accusing Adani of “pulling the largest con in corporate history." The bear also published reports on Dorsey’s Block Inc. and Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises.
All three financiers and their businesses adamantly disputed Hindenburg’s assertions. Still, that year the trio saw their collective wealth swoon by as much $99 billion while their publicly traded companies lost as much as $173 billion of market value, report by Bloomberg states.
This month, Anderson went after Ernie Garcia III’s Carvana Co., accusing him and his father, Ernie Garcia II, of an “accounting grift for the ages." The auto retailer promptly dismissed Hindenburg’s arguments as “intentionally misleading and inaccurate."
As I’ve shared with family, friends, and our team since late last year, I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research. The plan has been to wind up after we finish the pipeline of ideas we were working on. As of the last Ponzi cases we just completed and are sharing with regulators, that day is today.
I write this from a place of joy. Building this has been a life’s dream.
I did not know at the outset if it would be possible to find a fulfilling path. This wasn’t an easy option, but I was naïve to the danger and felt drawn to it magnetically. Read more here
Hindenburg Research's founder said he would disband the firm whose reports sparked heavy short-selling by investors and investigations by authorities, wiping billions from the market values of companies including India's Adani Group and U.S.-based Nikola.
