Nate Anderson, the founder of Hindenburg Research, has finally shared the reasons behind the firm’s decision to target billionaire Gautam Adani, which led to the business tycoon losing billions. Anderson explained to PTI why Adani Group was chosen by saying, "We initially saw media articles outlining red flags, took a closer look, and just kept following the evidence," "We 100 per cent stand by all of our research findings," told Nate.

Anderson told PTI that the January 2023 Hindenburg report accusing Adani Group of "the largest con in corporate history" was based on ‘red flags’ identified through media reports highlighting concerns about the conglomerate.

The Adani Group has consistently denied all allegations made in the report.

Anderson, who gained a reputation for producing reports on companies he accused of fraud, announced last month that he was shutting down his forensic research firm nearly eight years after founding it.

"As to why I retired - it is all in the letter (released on January 16 that announced shutting down of Hindenburg) - it is not based on any threat, health issue, personal issue or otherwise," he informed PTI.

Conspiracy theories suggest that there may be an imminent investigation by the US Department of Justice and/or the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) to "concoct a counter-narrative about my retirement is a great example of why I am happy to instead be enjoying more time with family, friends and good music," he expressed.

Hindenburg Research has denied reports claiming that it is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over anonymous reports linking its founder to a hedge fund involved in preparing reports targeting specific companies.

Hindenburg previously accused the Adani Group of using a network of companies in tax havens to inflate its revenues and manipulate stock prices, all while accumulating significant debt. While the conglomerate strongly denied the allegations, the report caused a dramatic drop in Adani’s market value, wiping out over USD 150 billion at its peak. However, the Adani Group eventually recovered these losses over the course of a year.

In recent years, Hindenburg had made several allegations against the Adani Group, with its reports published since 2023 causing billions of dollars in losses for the Indian billionaire. Adani and his companies have consistently rejected all of the charges.

This revelation comes shortly after a Republican Congressman, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, urged the Department of Justice to preserve all documents and communications related to investigations involving Adani and his businesses.

The matter was also raised before the Supreme Court, which determined that there was no need for an additional investigation beyond the one already initiated by India’s market regulator, SEBI, into specific issues raised before the Hindenburg report.

In response to some viewing the Hindenburg report as against India and its growth narrative, Anderson stated "We have always believed in India's potential and view market transparency and strong corporate governance as key factors that can fuel India's growth story."

Regarding the accusations of collaborating with OCCRP and George Soros, he stated "Of course not, but we have a policy of not feeding into silly conspiracy theories. When the main response to 100+ pages of evidence (presented in the report against Adani Group) is a goofy conspiracy, we view it as a sign that we were right on the mark."

When asked about how regulatory bodies in India responded to the Hindenburg reports, he said, "We view our role as researching and writing about issues in need of transparency. The rest is out of our hands." He rejected the accusations of sharing reports with hedge funds, stating, “We have always maintained full editorial control over all of our research."

"As we and many other US-based short sellers have discussed in public interviews for years, our model involves investing our own capital and sometimes also bringing on a balance sheet partner. This is one of the most common business models in our industry, it is fully compliant with all applicable laws, and we disclose this in our reports," he further said.