George Soros: Billionaire investor Geroge Soros has weighed in on the ongoing Adani-Hindenburg row stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silent on the issue and will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in the Indian parliament.
Soros in his speech termed India an interesting case of democracy. "PM Modi maintains close relations with both open and closed societies. India is a member of the Quad (which also includes Australia, the US, and Japan), but it buys a lot of Russian oil at a steep discount and makes a lot of money on it," Soros said.
Know more about international entrepreneur & US business tycoon:
- George Soros has a net worth of about dollar 8.5 billion, Bloomberg reported
- He is the founder of Open Society Foundations
- Soros's foundation provides grants to groups, individuals that promote democracy, transparency and freedom of speech
- He has also been involved in political activism, and supported the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton in Joe Biden. Soros has spoken against China's President Xi Jinping, former US President Donald Trump and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- The 92-year-old philanthropist is one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was born into a prosperous Jewish family that left Hungary (when he was 17) when the Nazis arrived, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 1947, they reached London, where Mr Soros studied philosophy at the London School of Economics.
- After his education, he joined the London merchant bank Singer & Friedlander. In 1956, Soros moved to New York, where he worked initially as an analyst of European securities, as per Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Soros made his mark in the financial world by making bold investment decisions after establishing a hedge fund in 1973.
- He managed client money from 1969 to 2011. As per Forbes, Mr Soros shorted the British pound and reportedly made a profit of dollar 1 billion. He became known as the man who broke the Bank of England, the outlet further said.
- After the end of the Cold War, Soros established his foundations in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, and Yugoslavia. By the beginning of this century, these Open Society Foundations were active in more than 70 countries.
- Soros made the comments that infuriated the government during a speech ahead of the Munich security conference.
- He highlighted the recent Adani Group crisis and said PM Modi "has to answer questions" from foreign investors and Parliament on allegations of fraud and stock manipulation against the billionaire's companies.
- He also said that this will significantly weaken Modi's stranglehold on India's federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms. “I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India," said Soros.
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What George Soros said in his speech:
According to billionaire investor George Soros, "The turmoil engulfing Gautam Adani’s business empire that’s sparked a punishing stock market selloff and shaken faith in India as an investment opportunity may open the door to a democratic revival in the country."
The fallout from US short seller Hindenburg Research’s attack on the conglomerate threatens to hurt investor confidence in India, has fueled concerns about the country’s regulatory framework and sparked questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ties with Adani.
“Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” Soros said in a speech ahead of the Munich Security Conference.
“This will significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms. I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India.”
