Many Indians voiced their support for Gautam Adani on Tuesday as the school-dropout billionaire sealed a $2.5 billion share sale amid criticism from a US short-seller.
“IndiaStandsWithAdani” was one of the top trending hashtags on Twitter in response to Adani Group shares totaling $65 billion in losses since last week’s Hindenburg Research report, which expressed concern over its debt levels and use of tax havens.
Mukund Jethav, a member of the IT unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat state, tweeted, “I am proud of my country’s billionaire. Indians will not be fooled… India will not bow down to any foreign power.”
The online support reflects financial backing for Adani Enterprises, which despite making a 30% anchor bid for its share sale last week, had collected only 3% subscription till Monday in the public offering, amid concerns it could fail.
But in the event, the 60-year-old firm managed to seal the deal before the market closed on Tuesday, thanks to support from corporate and institutional investors, even though Adani Enterprises’ share price was lower than the offer for share sale.
Though smaller retail investors did not bid as much, online posts with hashtags including ‘IndiaINCSupportsAdani’ and #AdaniFPOFullySubscribe were among the top trending on social media platforms praising the billionaire.