Indian billionaire Gautam Adani lost more than $20 billion (£16 billion) on Friday as investors withdrew from his companies for a second day due to allegations of fraud made by a US investment firm.
The Adani Group has brushed off the allegations as malicious, but the outrage has not subsided as a result.
The largest opposition party in India has called for an investigation.
The market value of the firm's publicly traded companies has decreased by nearly $50 billion.
Adani Enterprises, the company's flagship, saw a nearly 20% decline in share price on Friday, and other publicly traded companies in the group experienced even greater declines. As a result, trading in Mumbai was automatically halted.
While maintaining his estimated net worth of more than $96 billion, Mr. Adani has fallen from third richest man in the world to seventh on Forbes' rich list.
The controversy began only a few days after Hindenburg Research, a company that specializes in "short-selling," or wagering against a company's share price in the hope that it will decline, released a report accusing the Adani Group of engaging in decades-long, "brazen" stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
Its study was released in advance of an Adani Enterprises share sale that is currently not receiving much interest.
Self-made tycoon Mr. Adani has amassed wealth through investments in renewable energy, ports, airports, and other industries.
The value of the shares in his companies had increased dramatically during the last three years, greatly increasing his fortune.
According to his business, Hindenburg was the target of legal action.
Mr. Adani, a supporter of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has long been the target of allegations from opposition lawmakers that he has benefitted from his connections to the political system, which he vigorously refutes.
Billion-dollar loans or investments in enterprises connected to the Adani Group have been made by numerous Indian banks and state-owned insurance firms.
Some of India's top public sector banks told Reuters in interviews that they had no concerns about risks related to the company to which they were exposed.
However, the incident has had an adverse impact on the stock market as a whole, sending India's benchmark Nifty 50 stock index down.
.
