Operation Zeppelin: Inside Adani’s Counter to Hindenburg

Hindenburg Research, the forensic monetary agency that challenged the Adani Group, took its title from the notorious airship that burst into flames upon arriving in New Jersey in 1937. And the counter to its damning report in opposition to the conglomerate was dubbed ‘Operation Zeppelin,’ named after the German dirigible airships used for reconnaissance and bombing through the First World Warfare. In January 2023, Hindenburg printed a scathing report describing the Adani Group, certainly one of India’s largest conglomerates, led by certainly one of its richest males, as “the most important con in company historical past”.

The fallout was swift: inventory costs plummeted, wiping out over USD 150 billion in market worth on the lowest level, and the group’s greatest public providing was abruptly scrapped. For a second, it appeared like Gautam Adani‘s empire was on the brink.

However that impression did not final lengthy. The group staged a swift comeback, deploying a mixture of public relations, authorized maneuvers, and strategic ways to counter the fallout and restore investor confidence.

The comeback was bolstered by a covert operation, believed to have concerned help from an Israeli intelligence agency, in line with folks briefed on the problem.

The Hindenburg report, which accused the Adani Group of inventory manipulation and accounting fraud, dropped only a week earlier than Gautam Adani was in Israel to finalise a USD 1.2-billion deal to amass the Haifa seaport.

The privatisation of Haifa Port was Israel’s largest and most bold infrastructure and monetary endeavor of the 2020s. Initially, 18 worldwide bidders expressed curiosity, however solely 5 had been cleared to submit remaining proposals. The successful bid — after passing Israel’s stringent safety vetting — got here from a three way partnership between Gadot Masofim for Chemical substances Ltd and Adani Ports and Particular Financial Zone Ltd, with the Indian agency holding the bulk stake. The bids, evaluations, and clearances had taken 18 lengthy months — and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was current on the signing on January 31, 2023.

Because the Hindenburg report dominated world headlines, a non-public dialog unfolded in a modest room on the Haifa port.

In response to sources, a high Israeli chief questioned Adani in regards to the allegations, to which the Indian billionaire firmly responded that they had been “absolute lies”. Eshel Armoni — the outgoing chairman of the port and a former high-ranking Mossad official — was believed to have been current through the change.

Some inside the Israeli institution considered the Hindenburg report as a deliberate try to undermine the Haifa port deal, which Tel Aviv thought-about strategically very important for the India-Center East-Europe Financial Hall — a counterweight to rising Chinese language affect within the area.

Again house, Adani labored extra time to claw again the narrative by trimming debt by means of prepayments and repayments of borrowing, reducing again on the founder’s pledged shares, bringing in each promoter and marquee investor fairness, and refocusing consideration on the group’s core companies.

Parallely, emerged Operation Zeppelin — a clandestine investigation launched to uncover the internal workings of Hindenburg Analysis and expose these backing it, sources mentioned.

The New York places of work of Hindenburg Analysis and its founder, Nathan ‘Nate’ Anderson, a licensed Chartered Monetary Analyst, had been watched, they mentioned.

Former intelligence insiders quickly began connecting the dots as they stumbled upon a posh net of activist legal professionals, journalists, hedge funds, and political figures — some allegedly linked to Chinese language pursuits, others to Washington energy brokers.

Sources mentioned the spies even infiltrated a premise within the suburban neighbourhood of Oakbrook Terrace, a small city in Illinois outdoors Chicago, which led to uncovering of encrypted communications between privately held different asset administration companies and activists primarily based in India, the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia.

Sources mentioned Adani was briefed in regards to the covert operation throughout his personal go to to Switzerland in January 2024.

Adani didn’t react with noise — he responded with technique. A staff of attorneys and intelligence consultants to work alongside those throughout surveillance within the US, was assembled. Influential figures within the administration had been briefed on the problem.

In Ahmedabad, he arrange a high-tech management room with cyber consultants and analysts. His authorized groups labored throughout worldwide capitals.

By October 2024, the Zeppelin File on the collaborative community in opposition to Adani had swelled to 353 pages. Later that yr, leaked paperwork purportedly confirmed hyperlinks between US businesses and media platforms that had been pushing anti-Adani narratives, they mentioned.

In late November that yr, the US Division of Justice and the Securities and Change Fee charged Gautam Adani and key executives with being a part of an alleged bribery scheme to safe renewable energy provide contracts in India. The Adani group denied all allegations.

Concurrently, the Adani Group ready to launch authorized proceedings within the Southern District of New York, in opposition to Hindenburg Analysis and Nathan Anderson. A seven-page draft authorized transient, ready by a white shoe regulation agency, was despatched to Anderson’s workplace.

Sources mentioned a gathering between the Adani’s authorized intermediaries and Hindenburg officers was proposed however it wasn’t clear if the assembly on the Textile Constructing at 295 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan befell.

On January 15, 2025, per week shy of the second anniversary of its report on Adani group, Hindenburg Analysis formally introduced shutting down of operations.

Your complete gamut of Operation Zeppelin — modern-day counteroffensive that mixed enterprise, diplomacy, and cyber technique — might by no means be recognized however it actually will likely be thought-about the boldest comeback technique within the company world.