Hindenburg Research | |
Company type | Private |
Founded | 2017 |
Founder | Nathan Anderson |
Headquarters | New York City, United States |
Number of employees | 9 (2022) [1] |
Website | hindenburgresearch |
Hindenburg Research LLC is a U.S. investment research firm with a focus on activist short-selling founded by Nathan Anderson in 2017. [2] [3] [4] Named after the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, which they characterize as a human-made avoidable disaster, [5] the firm generates public reports via its website that allege corporate fraud and malfeasance. [6] Companies that have been the subjects of their reports include Super Micro Computer, [7] Adani Group, Nikola, [8] Clover Health, [9] Block, Inc., [10] Kandi, [11] Lordstown Motors, [12] and Roblox Corporation. [13] These reports also feature defenses of the practice of short-selling and explanations of how short-sells can "play a critical role in exposing fraud and protecting investors." [14]
Hindenburg Research prepares an investigation report on a target company by going through its public records, internal corporate documents and by talking to its employees. The report is then circulated to Hindenburg's limited partners, who, together with Hindenburg, take a short position in the target company before publicly releasing the report. Hindenburg takes profits if the target company's share price declines. [15] [16]
In September 2020, Hindenburg Research published a report on the Nikola Corporation that included allegations of the company being "an intricate fraud built on dozens of lies" and argued that its founder, Trevor Milton, was responsible for much of the fraudulent activities. [2] Following the release of the report, Nikola’s stock dropped by 40% [8] and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry was opened. [17] While Milton initially disputed the allegations, [17] he later resigned from his position as Executive Chairman [18] and was eventually found guilty of wire and securities fraud. [19] In November 2020, Nikola stated that they had "incurred significant expenses as a result of the regulatory and legal matters relating to the Hindenburg Report.” [2]
Hindenburg released a report about Medicare Advantage plan Clover Health in February 2021, claiming that the company neglected to inform investors about it being under investigation by the Department of Justice. The report also argued that billionaire stock promoter and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya neglected his due diligence and misled investors as he took the company public via special purpose acquisition company. [9] Hindenburg disclosed that it has no short or long positions in Clover. [20] Immediately following its publishing, Clover Health dismissed the accusations in the report and also stated it received a notice from the SEC. [21]
In January 2023, Hindenburg reported that it had short positions in India's Adani Group and flagged debt and accounting concerns. Concurrently, Hindenburg released a report claiming that Indian conglomerate Adani Group "has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades." [22] Soon after the report's release, Adani Group companies experienced an acute decline in their share prices. [23] [24] [25] In a follow-up piece, The Guardian indicated that Hindenburg called on the Adani Group to sue if they believed the report was inaccurate. [26] [27] By the end of February 2023, the group lost $150 billion in value. Gautam Adani's personal net worth came down as he fell from 3rd richest in the world to 30th richest within a month after the report was published. [28] [29] [30]
Adani Group responded by accusing Hindenburg Research of launching "a calculated attack" on India. [31] In response, Hindenburg Research released a statement saying that Adani had dodged key questions raised by the firm's report and instead resorted to threats. The firm stated they stand by their statement and dared Adani group to sue. [32]
Due to the allegations, American finance company MSCI cut the free-float status of four Adani firms and Moody's Investors Service downgraded the ratings outlook of four firms. [33] Credit Suisse Group AG stopped accepting bonds of Adani companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients. [34]
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a show cause notice to Hindenburg Research, accusing them of using non-public information to short Adani group stocks, causing a $150 billion market value loss. Sebi claims Hindenburg's report misled readers and created panic. Hindenburg denies the allegations, calling SEBI's actions an attempt to silence critics and asserting minimal profits from the Adani shorts. [35]
In August 2024, Hindenburg Research released a report accusing SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhawal Buch of having a stake in dubious offshore entities used to artificially inflate shares of companies owned by the Adani Group.The report says,"We find it unsurprising that SEBI was reluctant to follow a trail that may have led to its own chairperson". [36] The couple, later denied the claims. [37] [38]
In May 2023, Hindenburg released a report on Icahn Enterprises, which fell over 50% in the month after Hindenburg disclosed a short position against it. [39] They classified the structure of Icahn Enterprises' dividend structure as 'ponzi-like', and noted Jefferies Group's research on Icahn Enterprises as being "one of the worst cases of sell-side research malpractice we’ve seen". [40]
Hindenburg has also issued reports concerning the online betting operator DraftKings, [41] the geothermal power plants company Ormat Technologies, [42] electric car company Mullen Technologies, [43] and a Chinese blockchain and cryptomining firm named SOS. [44]
In March 2023, Hindenburg released a report on Block, alleging overstated user counts, accounts being used for illegal activities, a potential investigation from the SEC, and failing to ban fraudsters from its platform. [45] This immediately led to a 22% drop in the company's shares before a partial recovery later in the day. [46]
In June 2023, Hindenburg released a report on Dozy Mmobuosi's Tingo Group, where they accused the company of vast amounts of fraud, including misrepresentation of the founder's educational credentials and the existence of many aspects of the business. The report questioned the legitimacy of the company's financial reports and alleged that many of Tingo's claimed partners were not in fact partnered with Tingo. [47] NASDAQ-listed shares in Tingo Group plunged in value after the report. [48] [49] The company denied the Hindenburg claims, which it said contained "errors of fact" and "misleading and libellous content", [50] and appointed lawyers White & Case to review the claims. [51]
In August 2023, Hindenburg released a report on Freedom Holding, leading to an investigation by the Department of Justice. [52] In August 2024, Hindenburg disclosed a short position in Supermicro, alleging accounting failures ("red flags"). [53] The next day, Supermicro said it would delay the filing of the annual report, causing its stock to collapse over 25%. [54] The U.S. Department of Justice opened a preliminary probe into the company a month after the report, according to The Wall Street Journal . [55] In October 2024, Supermicro's auditors, Ernst & Young resigned after raising significant concerns over the company's internal controls, board independence and accounting practices, which led the company to lose a third of its market value. [56]
In October 2021, Hindenburg announced a $1 million reward for information on how the Tether cryptocurrency is pegged to the U.S. dollar and for knowledge on Tether's deposits. Hindenburg included that, at the time, they did not own positions in any cryptocurrency. [57]
In May 2022, Hindenburg took a short position in Twitter, Inc. following the announcement of its acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk. After Musk's attempted termination of the deal, Hindenburg took a significant long position on Twitter, betting against Musk on the acquisition to close. [3]
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the administrative domain of Ministry of Finance within the Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 as an executive body and was given statutory powers on 30 January 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992.
Icahn Enterprises L.P. is an American publicly traded master limited partnership and conglomerate headquartered at Milton Tower in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. The company has investments in various industries including energy, automotive, food packaging, metals, real estate and home fashion. The company is controlled by Carl Icahn, who owns 86 percent of it.
Adani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Ahmedabad. Founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business, the Group's businesses include sea and airport management, electricity generation and transmission, mining, natural gas, food, weapons, and infrastructure. It is particularly active in metal commodity exchange .More than 60% of its revenue is derived from coal-related businesses.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) is an Indian multinational port operator and logistics company, part of Adani Group. APSEZ is India's largest private port operator with a network of 12 ports and terminals, including India's first port-based SEZ at Mundra and the first deep water transshipment port at Thiruvananthapuram. The company has attracted controversies for cronyism, alleged stock manipulation and violation of environmental norms.
Gautam Shantilal Adani is an Indian billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.
Adani Power is an Indian multinational power and energy company, subsidiary of Adani Group and based in Khodiyar in Ahmedabad, India. It is a private thermal power producer, with a capacity of 15,250 MW and operates a mega solar plant of 40 MW at Naliya, Bitta, Kutch, Gujarat. Adani Godda Power is implementing a 1,600 MW plant at Jharkhand. The company has signed long term power purchase agreements of about 9,153 MW with the government of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Punjab.
Andrew Edward Left is an activist short seller, author and editor of the online investment newsletter Citron Research, formerly StockLemon.com. Under the name Citron Research, Left publishes reports on firms that he claims are overvalued or are engaged in fraud. Left is known for advising investors on short selling and has often appeared on various media outlets such as CNBC and Bloomberg to talk about his opinions on stocks. In 2017, Left was called 'The Bounty Hunter of Wall Street' by The New York Times. Left gained further notoriety following his announced short of GameStop, precipitating a short squeeze that has hurt him and other short sellers in the short term.
Chamath Palihapitiya is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian and American venture capitalist, engineer, SPAC sponsor, founder and CEO of Social Capital. Palihapitiya was an early senior executive at Facebook, working at the company from 2007 to 2011. Following his departure from Facebook, Palihapitiya started The Social+Capital Partnership, through which he invested in several companies, including Yammer and Slack. He is a co-host of a technology podcast, All-In, along with David Sacks, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg.
Nikola Corporation is an American manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles, fuel-cell electric vehicles, and energy solutions. It presented several concept vehicles from 2016 to 2020, the first of which was a natural gas fueled turbine-electric semi truck. The company went public on June 4, 2020. In February 2022, the company projected deliveries of between 300 and 500 of its first battery-electric semitrucks — known as the Nikola Tre — to customers. The company delivered its first two battery-electric trucks in December 2021. Like Tesla, Inc., the company is named in honor of Nikola Tesla, but these are not related to the inventor. Nikola Corporation is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Trevor Robert Milton is an American convicted felon, former businessman and the founder and former executive chairman and CEO of Nikola Corporation. In September 2020, Milton resigned from his position as executive chairman after the U.S. SEC and Department of Justice began investigating claims that Milton and Nikola committed securities fraud. In July 2021, Milton was indicted by federal prosecutors on three counts of securities fraud and wire fraud and released on $100 million bail. In June 2022, he was charged with another count of wire fraud. In October 2022, he was found guilty on three of the four counts, and received a 4 year prison sentence, a $1 million fine, and may be forced to forfeit part of his property holdings as a part of his sentence.
Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) is an Indian renewable energy company, headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. It is majority-owned by Indian conglomerate Adani Group and minority-owned by TotalEnergies. The company operates Kamuthi Solar Power Project, one of the largest solar photovoltaic plants in the world.
Nu Ride Inc. is an American electric vehicle automaker located in Lordstown, Ohio. The company was based at the Lordstown Assembly plant, previously a General Motors factory. Lordstown Motors was known for its Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck. In March 2024, the company emerged from its September 2023 bankruptcy restructuring as Nu Ride Inc., headquartered in New York City.
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd, formerly known as Adani Transmission Ltd, is an electric power transmission company headquartered in Ahmedabad. Currently, it is one of the largest private sector power transmission companies operating in India. As of July 2020, the company operates a cumulative network of 12,200 circuit kilometers, and more than 3,200 circuit kilometers are under various stages of construction.
Clover Health Investments, Corp. is an American health care company founded in 2014. The company provides Medicare Advantage (MA) insurance plans and operates as a direct contracting entity with the U.S. government. The company manages care for Medicare beneficiaries in 11 states and started trading publicly on January 8, 2021.
Madhabi Puri Buch is an Indian businesswoman who is the chairperson of the securities regulatory body in India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). She is the first woman to lead SEBI, and the first person from the private sector to be appointed to this position.
Dozy Mmobuosi, is a Nigerian businessman, and tech entrepreneur. An advocate for technological advancement in Africa, he is the founder and former CEO of Tingo Inc.
Christopher John Cleverly is a British lawyer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and businessman. A barrister and past Channel 4 TV presenter, he has been involved with ventures in Africa, including the Made in Africa Foundation, AIM-listed African Potash, and Agri-Fintech Holdings, the main shareholder in Nasdaq-listed Tingo Group, a company implicated in US fraud allegations in late 2023.
Nathan Anderson is the founder of Hindenburg Research, a New York-based investment research firm known for its investigative reports and short-selling strategies.
Tingo Group, Inc. is a publicly traded fintech and agri-fintech conglomerate initially established in Nigeria and now with operations across Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
We view the Hindenburg as the epitome of a man-made, totally avoidable disaster. Almost 100 people were loaded onto a balloon filled with the most flammable element in the universe. This was despite dozens of earlier hydrogen-based aircraft meeting with similar fates.