Hindenburg, which targeted Adani, shuts shop

Washington/New Delhi: Hindenburg Research, which made international waves with campaigns targeting billionaire Gautam Adani that wiped billions from market value of his group companies, will disband, its founder Nate Anderson announced on Thursday.

Announcement by Anderson, 40, who started Hindenburg in 2017, came just days before Donald Trump's inauguration as the new President of the United States.

While he cited the toll of the "rather intense, and at times, all encompassing" nature of the work as the reason for his decision", critics were quick to link the shutting down Hindenburg's alleged ties with George Soros and the so-called deep state being under significant pressure from the incoming Trump administration.

Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Robbie Singh in a cryptic post on X said: "Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye" Typically, short-sellers like Anderson, who managed his firm's own money but not that of others, bet against companies they believe are plagued with mismanagement or involved in some fraud/scam. Short sellers borrow a stock to sell it in the expectation the price will fall, then repurchase the shares and pocket the difference. They book loss if the reverse happens.

Hindenburg in January 2023 published a report accusing the Adani group of "pulling the largest con in the corporate history", wiping out more than USD 150 billion in value of the group's shares at their lowest point. Adani group vehemently denied all the allegations including that being "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades" and improper use of offshore tax havens to shore up group share prices.

Business tycoon Adani was ranked world's fourth-richest and Asia's wealthiest person a day before the report was published. He slipped following the heavy selling witnessed in the group stocks. On Thursday, with a net worth of USD 75 billion, he was ranked at No.20, behind Mukesh Ambani (ranked 17th with USD 91.5 billion net worth).

"There is not one specific thing - no particular threat, no health issue and no big personal issue," Anderson wrote in a letter posted on the firm's website. "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." A graduate of international business management from the University of Connecticut, Nathan (Nate) Anderson founded a "forensic financial research" firm to specialise in spotting wrongdoings and frauds, or what it calls man-made disasters, at companies around the globe and taking market bets against them. He named his firm after the German airship, Hindenburg, which caught fire and crashed in 1937 in what was seen as a man-made disaster as some 100 people were loaded on the balloon filled with hydrogen - the most flammable material in the universe.

Hindenburg in 2020 went after electric truck maker Nikola, which led to a US jury convicting founder Trevor Milton of fraud two years later.

This month, it 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 retailers denied allegations and its stock soon recovered.

Hindenburg's past targets include Lordstown Motors Corp (US), Kandi (China), Clover Health (US) and Tecnoglass (Colombia). In 2023, it shorted Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises and Jack Dorsey-led Block.

"We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking," Anderson wrote, adding that nearly 100 people had been charged by regulators "at least in part" because of Hindenburg's work.

Those charged civilly or criminally by regulators include billionaires and oligarchs, he wrote.

Anderson said he's winding up his firm after working through the last of its ideas and handing off tips on suspected ponzi schemes to regulators.

Over the next six months, he plans to work on a series of videos and materials on Hindenburg's model, so others can learn how the firm conducted investigations.

"For now, I will be focused on making sure everyone on our team lands where they want to be next," he said. "So over the next 6 months or so 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." Anderson said one at a time, and without a clear plan, he built a team of 11 incredible people. "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," he said. "Over time, people began to see what I hoped we could show - that having an impact is possible, no matter who you are." Outgoing US President awarding George Soros, the infamous wealth destroyer, just weeks before leaving office, and now Hindenburg, another infamous wealth destroyer, closing shop in a rush just days before the outgoing president departs -- read between the lines, the message is clear, commented Deven Choksi, a political and market expert and managing director of DRChoksey Finserv.

Hindenburg report against Adani led to a political storm in India. But as months passed, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition from litigators based on it while the Adani Group recovered lost ground with strong operating performance and stock recovering most of the losses.

Investor and commentator Ajay Bagga said Hindenburg operated in a grey zone, publishing negative reports and taking short positions, including via hedge funds who were not disclosing their positions.

"Short sellers hardly ever make sustained profits. That is why the few who do, as for example in 2008, are celebrated so much. The rest make hardly any returns over the long term," he said. "Some regulatory action may have taken place and a way to skip penalties may be an agreement to quietly shut down. Hope they get prosecuted and are not let off so easily in case some regulatory or legal action is ongoing against them."