Vinod Adani
Indian-born, Dubai-based businessman with Cypriot citizenship; elder brother of Gautam Adani and member of the Adani Group promoter group
| Vinod Adani
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 January 1949 (Forbes) India (Forbes) |
| Nationality | Cyprus (from 2016, per The Indian Express) |
| Residence | Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Forbes) |
| Occupation | Businessman, investor |
| Known for | Stakes in Adani Group companies held through overseas investment companies |
| Sibling(s) | Gautam Adani |
Vinod Adani (born 1949) is an Indian-born businessman based in Dubai and the elder brother of the industrialist Gautam Adani.[1][2] Forbes says he holds stakes in Adani Group companies through overseas investment companies belonging to him, and attributes his fortune to infrastructure and commodities.[1] Adani Enterprises describes him as part of the promoter group of listed Adani companies, and the 2022 acquisition of Ambuja Cements and ACC Limited from Holcim was made through a company of which he and his wife are the ultimate beneficial owners.[3][4] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Vinod Adani 104th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$24.51 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Infrastructure, commodities.[1][5] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Vinod Adani 121st, at US$20.8 billion.[6] He was a central figure in the January 2023 allegations by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research; in September 2026 India's securities regulator dismissed shareholding and fraud allegations against him.[7][8][9]
Early life and residence
Forbes records his birth date as 10 January 1949 and his country of birth as India; it gives his citizenship as Cypriot and his residence as Dubai.[1] Scroll.in, citing The Morning Context, reported that he set up a textile mill near Mumbai in 1976, moved to Singapore in 1989 and to Dubai in 1994, trading commodities.[10] The Indian Express reported in November 2023, using leaked records obtained by OCCRP, that he applied for Cyprus's "golden passport" investment-citizenship scheme on 3 August 2016 and was granted citizenship on 25 November 2016. The paper said he had been based in Dubai since the early 1990s.[2]
Business interests
In March 2023 Adani Enterprises told the National Stock Exchange of India that Gautam and Rajesh Adani are the individual promoters of listed Adani companies, and that Vinod Adani, as their immediate relative, is part of the promoter group under Indian regulations. The same letter described Endeavour Trade and Investment Limited, the company that acquired ACC and Ambuja Cements, as an entity controlled by him.[3] The open-offer document for Ambuja Cements of August 2022 traced Endeavour's ownership through a chain of companies in Mauritius, the British Virgin Islands and Dubai to the Amulya Resources Family Trust. It stated that the ultimate beneficial ownership of the acquirer was held by Vinod Shantilal Adani and his wife, Ranjanben Vinod Adani.[4] Forbes says the Holcim deal, worth US$10.5 billion, made the Adani Group India's second-largest cement producer in 2022.[1]
The Indian Express reported that he appeared in the Panama Papers in connection with a Bahamas company, GA International Inc, set up in 1994, and in the Pandora Papers in connection with a British Virgin Islands company, Hibiscus RE Holdings.[2] Scroll.in reported that he had asked for his name on the Bahamas company's papers to be changed to the alias "Vinod Shantilal Shah", citing the Financial Express.[10]
Hindenburg allegations and regulatory proceedings
In January 2023 Hindenburg Research published a report accusing the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. The report alleged that Vinod Adani, through close associates, managed 38 Mauritius shell entities and further entities in Cyprus, the UAE, Singapore and the Caribbean.[7] Scroll.in counted 151 mentions of him in the report.[10] The Adani Group rejected the allegations.[1]
In August 2023 the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported, from documents it had obtained, that two investors, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, had traded Adani shares for years through Mauritius funds, and that the fund manager had paid a company of Vinod Adani's to advise on those investments. OCCRP said Vinod Adani did not respond to requests for comment. The Adani Group called the allegations baseless and a rehash of Hindenburg's claims.[11]
In September 2025 SEBI issued two orders finding no violation of related-party-transaction rules by Adani Group entities. The Indian Express noted that these orders did not deal with Hindenburg's allegations about public shareholding, foreign portfolio investors and offshore entities linked to Vinod Adani.[12] Those were the subject of a separate show-cause notice. It alleged that Vinod Adani controlled the advisory firm Excel through a trust he had settled, and through it the investments made by two foreign funds in four Adani companies.[8] In a final order dated 28 September 2026, SEBI held that the allegations of breaching minimum public shareholding rules and of fraudulent trade practices were not established against Vinod Adani and eleven other noticees. It fined Ahli and Chang ₹20 lakh each for failing to provide information. The listed Adani companies and Gautam Adani had settled their part of the proceedings separately.[8][9] The Hindu reported the regulator as saying that de facto control could not be inferred from suspicion or business relationships alone.[9]
Wealth
Forbes gives infrastructure and commodities as his source of wealth and says his stakes in group companies are held through several overseas investment firms belonging to him.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 4 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2023. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[6][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 184 | 9.8 |
| 2024 | 88 | 23.0 |
| 2025 | 146 | 14.9 |
| 2026 | 121 | 20.8 |
Philanthropy
No documented philanthropic programme in Vinod Adani's name was found in the sources checked.
Political activity
No political offices, donations or lobbying registrations in Vinod Adani's name were found in the sources checked.
Controversies and legal issues
See Hindenburg allegations and regulatory proceedings. SEBI's September 2026 final order dismissed the shareholding and fraud allegations against him.[8]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
He is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Forbes; The Indian Express).[1][2] Part of the ownership chain of Endeavour Trade and Investment, the Ambuja and ACC acquirer, ran through Dubai.[4]
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
He is part of the promoter group of listed Adani companies, and was a noticee in SEBI's proceedings on minimum public shareholding, which were dismissed against him in September 2026.[3][8]
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
He became a citizen of Cyprus in 2016 through its investment-citizenship programme, according to The Indian Express.[2]
Other international links
Ownership structures associated with him, as described in filings and reporting, run through Mauritius, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.[4][2]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Vinod Adani (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/vinod-adani/) Forbes, live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Ritu Sarin, Vinod Adani, Pankaj Oswal among 66 Indians who got golden passport The Indian Express, 15 November 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Adani Enterprises Limited, Clarification on recent news item appeared in the "www.thewire.in" dated March 13, 2023 (letter to the National Stock Exchange of India) National Stock Exchange of India, 16 March 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd / ICICI Securities and others, Letter of Offer to the public shareholders of Ambuja Cements Limited Securities and Exchange Board of India, 19 August 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hindenburg Research, Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History Hindenburg Research, 24 January 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Securities and Exchange Board of India (Whole-Time Member Kamlesh Chandra Varshney), Final order in the matter of Adani Enterprises Limited, Adani Transmission Limited, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited and Adani Power Limited (order no. WTM/KV/IVD-3/ID2/32734/2026-27) Securities and Exchange Board of India, 28 September 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 PTI, SEBI drops shareholding case against Vinod Adani, finds no proof he controlled offshore funds The Hindu, 29 September 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Nachiket Deuskar, Who is Vinod Adani, the mysterious elder brother at the heart of the Adani crisis? Scroll.in, 28 February 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ OCCRP, Documents Provide Fresh Insight Into Allegations of Stock Manipulation That Rocked India’s Powerful Adani Group Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, 31 August 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Hitesh Vyas and George Mathew, Adani gets SEBI clean chit, but some Hindenburg allegations remain unanswered The Indian Express, 19 September 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.