Chairperson of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaks at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai on November 19, 2022.
Indranil Mukherjee | AFP | Getty Images
Shares of India’s Adani Enterprises have plummeted over the past week, after the publication of an extensive critical report from U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research. Some big international players have exposure.
Companies across the Adani Group of companies have seen a huge sell-off that took the total group’s losses past $110 billion by Friday close, after the Hindenburg report accused the conglomerate of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.”
The ports-to-energy conglomerate, led by one of the world’s richest men, Gautam Adani, has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
Adani Enterprises has suffered the biggest loss among the wider group’s many listed companies, shedding more than 60% of its market cap — or more than $30 billion — between the report’s publication on Jan. 24 and the close of Thursday trade.
The Adani Group firmly denies the accusations, calling them “nothing but a lie” from the “Madoffs of Manhattan” in a 413-page riposte that failed to soothe skittish investor sentiment and rein in a rapid sell-off.
Adani owns 64% of Adani Enterprises — the Adani SB Family holds 55.27%, while 8.73% is with Adani Tradeline Pvt Ltd, where Gautam and brother Rajesh Adani are controlling directors.
Top 20 shareholders in Adani Enterprises
Institutions / Insiders
Ownership (%)
Shares (thousands)
ADANI SB FAMILY
55.3
630,034.7
Adani Tradeline Pvt Ltd
8.7
99,491.7
Life Insurance Corporation of India
4.0
45,815.0
Green Enterprises Investment Hldg
3.5
40,191.0
Flourishing Trade & Investment
3.0
33,937.7
Afro Asia Trade & Investments
2.7
30,249.7
Worldwide Emerging Market Hldg
2.7
30,249.7
HSZ (Hong Kong)
1.7
19,295.4
Elara Capital Plc
1.7
19,190.1
M.M. Warburg Bank (Schweiz)
1.3
14,290.9
The Vanguard Group, Inc.
0.7
8,497.0
SBI Funds Management Pvt
0.6
7,195.0
BlackRock Fund Advisors
0.6
6,454.2
Spitze Trade & Investment
0.3
3,986.0
UTI Asset Management
0.2
2,237.5
BlackRock Advisors (UK)
0.2
1,901.3
Kotak Mahindra AM
0.1
1,281.8
Geode Capital Management
0.1
1,114.0
Dimensional Fund Advisors
0.1
831.1
Nippon Life India AM
0.1
737.3
Source: FactSet, as of 1030 UTC on 3 Feb
The third-largest shareholder, at 4.02%, is India’s state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India. Morning sessions in both houses of India’s parliament were adjourned on Friday, as opposition leaders called for an investigation into the allegations against Adani, who is a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The list of top 20 shareholders of Adani Enterprises also includes two of the biggest names on Wall Street: Vanguard owns 0.75% of the stock, while BlackRock Fund Advisors holds 0.57% and BlackRock Advisors (U.K.) Ltd has a 0.17% interest.
Spokespersons for Vanguard and BlackRock did not immediately respond to CNBC requests for comment.
Elara Capital, which currently owns 1.7% of Adani Enterprises, was the largest institutional shareholder until Feb. 2022, ownership data shows.
Hindenburg has accused Elara’s Mauritius-based funds of being part of a plan to manipulate the share prices of companies owned by Adani Group and hide how much the family owned. Elara has since disposed of 72% of the shares it held in the company, according to FactSet data.
Jo Johnson, the brother of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, resigned on Wednesday from his role as a director of Elara, according to Companies House.
Elara Capital and Johnson did not immediately respond to CNBC requests for comment.
A fully electric Isuzu pickup truck? That’s right. The D-MAX EV is Isuzu’s first electric pickup, and it will be rolling in the next few months. After kicking off mass production, Isuzu said the new EV pickup will “match the performance of existing diesel models,” boasting high towing capacity and payload.
Isuzu’s first electric pickup is launching in 2025
Isuzu announced on Tuesday that the D-MAX EV has officially entered mass production. The company has started building left-hand drive models, which will be shipped to Europe in the third quarter of 2025.
By the end of the year, production of right-hand drive models will begin for the UK, with sales expected to start in 2026.
The electric pickup is nearly identical to Isuzu’s popular gas-powered D-MAX, but swaps the diesel powertrain for a pair of electric motors. The D-MAX EV features new e-Axles, one on the front and the other at the rear, for a full-time 4WD system.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
The dual-motor powertrain enables it to match the performance of existing diesel models, with a combined 188 hp (140 kW) and a maximum torque of 240 lb-ft (325 Nm).
It can also tow over 7,700 lbs (3,500 kg) with a maximum payload of over 2,200 lbs (1,010 kg). That’s about the same as the D-MAX diesel, which has a 3,500 kg towing capacity and a payload capacity of up to 1,200 kg.
Powered by a 66.9 kWh battery, Isuzu’s first electric pickup boasts a driving range of up to 263 km (162 miles) on the WLTP. In the city, it can have a driving range of up to 224 miles (361 km).
Isuzu D-Max EV specs
Drive System
Full-time 4×4
Battery Type
Lithium-ion
Battery Capacity
66.9 kWh
Max Output
130 kW (174 hp)
Max Torque
325 Nm
Max Speed
Over 130 km/h (+80 mph)
Max Payload
1,000 kg (+2,200 lbs)
Max Towing Capacity
3.5t (+7,700 lbs)
Isuzu D-Max EV electric pickup specs
Built for on and off-road performance, the rugged electric pickup features over 8″ (210 mm) of ground clearance with a wading depth of nearly 24″ (600 mm).
Although prices have not been announced, the D-MAX EV is expected to start slightly higher than the diesel model, which has a base price of around € 36,500 ($41,600).
Isuzu’s popular D-MAX is sold in over 100 countries, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. The electric version will arrive in Europe in the next few months, followed by the UK and other regions in 2026.
The electric D-MAX will compete with the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and other electric pickups, such as Geely’s Radar R6, BYD’s Shark, and Ford’s F-150 Lightning.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
For the first time in five years, a Tesla insider required to report Tesla stock transactions bought stocks rather than selling them.
But the transaction is so small that it makes the whole situation hilarious.
Insiders in public companies are top executives and board members who are required to report to the SEC any transaction related to the company’s stock.
For Tesla, it has become a running joke that insiders only sell, never buy the stock.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
This has been true without exception for years.
We don’t know as much about executives as Tesla has a very short top executive bench who are required to file transactions. However, when it comes to its board members, they have been selling at an impressive rate.
However, we now have confirmation that a Tesla board member is buying, rather than selling.
Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who joined Tesla’s board in 2022, confirmed that he bought 4,000 shares in Tesla last week worth about $1 million:
Electrek’s Take
Gebbia is estimated to be worth over $7 billion. Therefore, his purchase of $1 million worth of Tesla stock would be equivalent to my buying a fractional share in Tesla.
Furthermore, the disclosure confirmed that despite being on the board for the last 3 years, Gebbia owned only 111 shares in Tesla before the transaction.
That’s quite the show of confidence in Tesla.
Thie whole situation with the board is disappointing. Tesla’s core business is melting. The company reported its worst quarter in years last week, and the stock surged 20%.
None of it makes any sense.
The board is sitting on its hands while the most powerful force accelerating the advent of electric transport is being destroyed in favor of nonsensical predictions about the potential of solving self-driving and humanoid robots.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Venmo, long a centerpiece of PayPal‘s growth story but often criticized for its lack of monetization, is becoming a bigger contributor to the business.
PayPal said Tuesday in its first-quarter earnings release that revenue at Venmo increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. PayPal acquired Venmo in 2013 through the acquisition of parent company Braintree.
While it’s long been a popular consumer service for sending money to friends, Venmo’s ability to drive meaningful revenue has been a major question mark for investors, especially as competition from rivals like Zelle and Square Cash has intensified.
Venmo’s total payment volume rose 10% from a year earlier, but revenue grew twice as fast, reflecting the business opportunity. Venmo only gets revenue from specific products like Pay with Venmo at online checkout, Venmo debit cards, and instant transfers, but not from peer-to-peer payments.
Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro
Ahead of the earnings report, Jefferies analysts noted that Venmo revenue growth appeared to be “accelerating sharply” and flagged its rising contribution to branded checkout as a key area to watch. Compass Point analysts similarly said that while competition from Zelle and Square Cash remains fierce, Venmo’s traction with debit cards and online checkout could “open up new monetization avenues” if adoption trends continue.
The company added nearly 2 million first-time PayPal and Venmo debit card users during the quarter, and total debit card payment volume across PayPal and Venmo climbed more than 60%. Meanwhile, Pay with Venmo transaction volume surged 50% year over year, and Venmo debit card monthly active users grew about 40%.
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter but missed on revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.