August 5: Developing Stories
MARKET WOBBLES
A stock market rout led by Japan, where the Topix index plunged 12.2% in its biggest one day loss in more than 30 years, is continuing as markets open across the rest of the world today, amid fears of an economic slowdown in the U.S. While the sell-off was less pronounced than in Japan, markets in the Middle East fell on opening, with the Saudi Tadawul All Share Index showing declines of more than 3%, Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX down more than 3% and Dubai Financial Market’s General Index falling more than 4%. Dubai’s largest property developer, Emaar , was among the hardest hit, with its shares plunging more than 8% in the UAE. European markets opened down, with the tech sector leading falls and U.S. stock futures pointing to heavy losses when markets open.?
SUCCESSION PLAN
Asia’s second richest man Gautam Adani has laid out his succession plans for the first time, telling Bloomberg in a rare interview that he will retire at 70 and hand over the reins of his vast Adani Group conglomerate to his two sons, Karan and Jeet, and their cousins, Pranav and Sagar. The 62-year-old tycoon is currently the 11th richest individual in the world, with a net worth of more than $100 billion, and has deep business connections in the Gulf from ports and power to tech and AI. Planning for one of the world’s largest and most complex transfers of wealth kicked off in 2018 when Adani invited the four heirs to lunch at his home and gave them a three-month ultimatum to decide whether they would keep the Adani Group together or split it up and part ways, Bloomberg reported. The four men decided to stick together. “I am happy that all of them are hungry for growth, which is not common in the second generation,” Adani said. “They have to work together to build a legacy.”