Gautam Adani, one of India’s most powerful men, suffers a rare defeat By Reuters

By Shivam Patel, Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Gautam Adani, the school dropout who rose to become one of the world’s richest men, suffered a stunning defeat on Wednesday when his flagship firm withdrew a blockbuster share sale after an attack by a small U.S. investment firm over his business practices.

The move came after Adani’s companies lost nearly $86 billion in the stock market as investors bailed out on the tycoon who built a conglomerate spanning ports, coal mines, food businesses, airports and lately media.

On Tuesday, the Adani group appeared to have fought back the attack by the New York-based short-seller Hindenburg and rallied investors behind the $2.5 billion share issue of flagship firm Adani Enterprises.

But Adani could not staunch the sell-off in the market with Adani Enterprises, the crown jewel, losing more than a quarter of its value, saddling the investors who took part in his issue with huge paper losses.

It was a rare defeat for a man who has seemed unstoppable in recent years.

Adani, from Gujarat in western India, built his empire from scratch after starting out as a commodities trader. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from the same state and their relationship has long come under scrutiny by Modi’s opponents.

Until last week, Adani was the world’s third-richest person, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $127 billion, trailing only Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk. On Wednesday he had slipped to No. 15.

GRAPHIC: Gautam Adani slips to world’s eighth richest person – https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ADANI-INDIA/HINDENBURG-NETWORTH/akpeqadbbpr/chart.png

Married to dentist Priti Adani, he has two sons, Karan and Jeet, both of whom are involved in the company businesses.

Despite his riches the 60-year-old, who comes from a middle-class textile family, was far lesser known than other billionaires in a country where many inherit their wealth.

His business style was described as “very hands on”, according to one person with direct knowledge of his dealings.

As Adani’s empire swelled, stocks of his seven listed companies surged – in some cases more than 1,500% in the last three years amid aggressive expansion. He denied allegations by Modi’s opponents that he had…