New Delhi:
The US-based short seller Hindenburg Research which shut down weeks after Joe Biden lost the presidential election this January faced a determined counterattack from Adani Group, which the short seller had targeted in January 2023.
The Hindenburg report came out just days before Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani was in Israel to finalise a $1.2-billion deal to acquire the Haifa seaport. The winning bid came from a joint venture between Gadot Masofim for Chemicals Ltd and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, with the Indian firm holding the majority stake.
The bids, evaluations, and clearances for the privatisation of Haifa Port had taken 18 long months — and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was present at the signing on January 31, 2023.
Vijay Patel, who runs the fact check website ‘Only Fact‘, posted a thread on X detailing what he uncovered during his investigation into the Hindenburg hit job on Adani Group, corroborating with new information from Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad.
Mr Patel said Mr Adani was in Israel to finalise the Haifa seaport deal on January 31, 2023, while in private, two leaders were discussing the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group.
“This meeting gave birth to Operation Zeppelin,” Mr Patel said.
“When Mossad agents started to monitor the Hindenburg office, they found a complex web of activist lawyers, journalists, hedge funds, and politicians,” he said, adding Mossad’s report is not public and anybody who wants to know the names may read the thread he posted on X.
“Most shockingly, Mossad spies infiltrated a premise in the suburban neighborhood of Oakbrook Terrace, a small town in Illinois outside Chicago. They have successfully encrypted communications between privately held alternative asset management firms and activists based in India, the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia,” Mr Patel said.
The same address is also of the Indian Overseas Congress, he alleged.
6. In a recent attack on Adani,
At 2:20 AM IST(3:50 PM EST), CNBC wrote a story about a case against Adani in New York.
At 2:23 AM IST, within three minutes, National General Secretary of Indian Overseas Congress, Sandeep Wangala, did a tweet! pic.twitter.com/JciU5rtwEc
— Vijay Patel (@vijaygajera) April 23, 2025
The announcement by Hindenburg that it will shut down had raised questions over the harm it did to investors in India. Hindenburg founder Nate Anderson cited the short seller completed the projects it was handling.
Senior lawyer Sidharth Luthra had told NDTV that Mr Anderson deciding to disband Hindenburg also came after the Supreme Court ordered all agencies relevant to the matter to look into the issue.
Political analyst Rajat Sethi said the foreign firm operating outside of India’s jurisdiction tried to influence India’s markets and that led to investors’ loss.
More critical questions were raised in the wake of Mr Anderson’s announcement. Does Hindenburg’s disbanding prove the shoot and scoot nature of the organisation? What does it say about those who believe in the Hindenburg report? Was it a conspiracy of the deep state and foreign elements? Can Hindenburg still be punished? Or was it a big foreign interference in the ‘India Story’?
Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani had alleged Hindenburg’s disbanding signalled deeper implications, and suggested possible scrutiny by the US authorities or fear of investigation for its role in targeting Adani Group firms.
Mr Jethmalani linked the development to the “democratic deep-state” led by billionaire George Soros, and termed it an act of “economic terrorism” aimed at destabilising India.
Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani at the annual general meeting in June 2024 said the group “faced baseless accusations made by a foreign short seller that questioned our decades of hard work.”
