Hindenburg: “We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking”

Hindenburg Research, the controversial US-based short-seller known for exposing corporate misdeeds, announced its disbanding on Thursday, 16 January.

While its founder, Nate Anderson, described the decision as a personal milestone marking the conclusion of an era, Indian political circles were quick to highlight that this does not absolve the Adani Group of the allegations brought against it by US authorities in 2024 — nor overturns the Hindenburg Research report of 2023 that first shone a spotlight on Adani’s doubtful market strategies.

In his farewell statement, Anderson reflected on Hindenburg’s impact. “We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking,” he wrote, noting that the firm’s work led to civil and criminal charges against nearly 100 individuals, including “billionaires and oligarchs”.

He added, “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.”

Anderson’s letter also revealed plans to share open-source materials detailing Hindenburg’s investigative methods over the next six months.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh was quick to respond to the announcement, emphasising that Hindenburg’s closure does not exonerate the Adani Group, which was accused of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in the damning 2023 report.

The allegations led to a sharp decline in Adani stocks and triggered an expert committee investigation by the Supreme Court of India.

“The closure of Hindenburg Research does not in any way mean that 'Modani' has been given a clean chit,” Ramesh said, referring to the alleged nexus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group. He also raised questions about the government’s role in awarding key infrastructure contracts to the conglomerate, calling the issue a matter of national interest.

That Hindenburg Research report had accused the Adani Group of engaging in a ‘brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over decades’, citing substantial debt levels and undisclosed related-party transactions.

The group has consistently denied these allegations, dismissing them as ‘malicious’ and ‘selective misinformation’.

Further controversy arose in December 2024, however, when US prosecutors indicted the Adani Group in an alleged Rs 2,029 crore bribery case — a charge the conglomerate has again denied.

Since its founding in 2017, Hindenburg Research had been a disruptive force in the financial world, specialising in forensic investigations that exposed corporate fraud. Apart from its Adani revelations, the firm’s reports led to shakeups in companies such as Nikola and Lordstown Motors. In India, one of its first ‘victims’ was Eros International.

As Anderson prepares to step away from that role, though, he leaves behind a mixed legacy. While some celebrate Hindenburg’s role in holding corporations accountable, others question the ethics of short-selling as a business model.

In India, however, the long shadow of Hindenburg’s work remains critically relevant not only in the business echelons but in politics. Ramesh’s remarks underscore that the controversies surrounding the Adani Group — and its alleged nexus with political power — continue to demand scrutiny, irrespective of Hindenburg’s closure.

As Hindenburg exits the stage, then, the debates over its revelations and the accountability of powerful corporations and political figures that it had triggered is far from over.