Nathan Anderson, the man who took on Adani, plans to close Hindenburg Research
Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-seller firm, whose reports on the Indian diversified conglomerate Adani Group triggered to massive selloff in Adani Group shares, is officially winding up its business.
“I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research. The plan has been to wind up after we finished the pipeline of ideas we were working on. And as of the last Ponzi cases we just completed and are sharing with regulators, that day is today,” said founder Nathan Anderson.
Hindenburg gained global attention in January 2023 when it released a report alleging fraud and stock manipulation by the Indian conglomerate Adani Group.
The report stated that the group was artificially boosting its share prices and was overvalued by over 80 per cent The report triggered a massive selloff in Adani Group shares, which led to loss in market capitalisation. This was followed by successive reports. All the charges were denied by Adani and his companies.
Further, in 2024, the short-seller made allegations on Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and her husband Dhaval Buch of having a conflict of interest, claiming they held stakes in offshore entities linked to the alleged Adani money siphoning. These allegations were based on documents provided by a whistleblower and other investigations.
The allegations by Hindenburg led to a political storm for the market regulator which followed up with several accusations on the Sebi chairperson questioning the objectivity in the investigation and conflict of interest.
The US-based research firm was known for short-selling, a strategy where traders profit from a decline in the price of an asset, often a stock.
In a short sale, investors borrow shares of a stock they believe will fall in value, sell those shares on the open market, and later buy them back at a lower price to return to the lender.
Who is Nathan Anderson?
Nathan Anderson is known as a key figure in finance, known for investigating and revealing problems in companies.
Anderson grew up in the state of Connecticut, where he attended an Orthodox Jewish day school. He is the son of a university professor and a nurse. He graduated in international business from the University of Connecticut.
Worked as ambulance driver, established brokerage firm
Between March 2004 and January 2005, Anderson worked as an ambulance driver in Israel. He has qualified for two financial professional certifications: Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
He began his financial career working for FactSet Research Systems Inc. He then took a job vetting potential investments for the private wealth management services.
Anderson reportedly worked with Markopolos on the Platinum Partners investigation, which resulted in seven executives being charged with securities fraud. Around 2014, Anderson began filing whistleblowing reports with US authorities.
He initially established a brokerage firm for hedge funds, specializing in providing due diligence services and fraud reports.
Founding Hindenburg Research
In 2018, Anderson founded Hindenburg Research, a small investment management firm specializing in forensic finance investigations. It sought to unearth 'man-made disasters floating around in the market'.
Hindenburg Research, under Anderson, investigated big companies like Nikola Corporation, Adani Group, and Clover Health.
Later in 2023, a report on Adani Group caused a global stir and raised questions about corporate transparency. It was followed by allegations on Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch of having a conflict of interest, claiming they held stakes in offshore entities linked to the alleged Adani money siphoning.
