Produced by: Prashanti Moktan Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh
In January, New-York based short-seller Hindenburg Research published its report on the Adani Group on January 24 accusing the group of engaging in stock manipulation and accounting fraud over the course of decades. "The report was a combination of targeted misinformation and discredited allegations. The majority of them dating from 2004 to 2015. They were all settled by the authorities at that time. This report was a deliberate and malicious attempt aimed at damaging our reputation," said Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. However, the report dented the stocks of the conglomerate’s listed companies massively and led to Gautam Adani falling off several spots from being the world’s 3rd richest person
Domestic indices saw unprecedented boosts this year. The Sensex scaled to a fresh high of 71,913 while Nifty peaked to 21,593 on December 20 in intraday trading. "At the beginning of the year, uncertainties surrounded the economy and market due to challenges such as supply constraints, hyperinflation, and overvaluation. The collapse of US small banks, driven by rising interest rates, added to the concerns. Domestic earnings growth contracted in Q3CY22 & Q4CY22 due to a slowing global economy & geopolitical risk,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services while talking about how the stock market fared this year
“But India’s GDP growth forecast started to upgrade from Q1, and the earnings growth of corporate continued its robustness. FIIs hold on to their risk-off strategy due to a weak global market, but domestic retail inflows expanded starting from Q2. Throughout the year, the domestic market demonstrated strong resilience, surpassing expectations. Towards the end of the year, the stock market saw improvement as FII selling reduced, accompanied by a decrease in geopolitical risks and inflation,” added Geojit Financial Services’ Vinod Nair
While Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter made news in 2022, 2023 was the year when the tech billionaire rebranded the micro blogging platform to X. In July, the iconic blue bird logo of Twitter was replaced with the X logo. The name Twitter and its associated branding was also removed from its websites, apps, and headquarters
IT veteran NR Narayana Murthy sparked a debate that continues to rage on after he called on Indian youngsters to show their commitment towards nation building and work for 70 hours a week. During a podcast that aired in October, the Infosys co-founder said, “India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world […] so therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week'.” Many India Inc. leaders, such as Tech Mahindra’s CP Gurnani, Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, Edelweiss Mutual Fund MD & CEO Radhika Gupta and Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal, shared their thoughts on the debate triggered by Murthy's remarks
ChatGPT maker OpenAI enjoyed its fair share of headlines this year due to the popularity of its AI tool, but things took an ugly turn when its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was ousted from the company briefly. Altman was abruptly fired by OpenAI's board. Days later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the sacked OpenAI CEO would “lead a new advanced AI research team” at the tech giant. Fast forward to just days after the saga, OpenAI announced that it would be reinstating Sam Altman as the CEO
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited demerged its financial services business and renamed it to Jio Financial Services. The new entity was temporarily added to Nifty50 along with 18 other indices of NSE without replacing any stocks, on its listing on August 21. At Reliance AGM 2023, Mukesh Ambani dubbed Jio Financial Services the group’s ‘fourth engine’ after oil, telecom, and retail
The year was filled with several mainboard and SME IPOs that led to many investors booking profits on the bourses. Tata Group launched its first-ever IPO in 20 years with the much-anticipated Tata Technologies IPO, which was over subscribed 69.43 times. Tata Tech IPO also broke LIC’s record after receiving 73.58 lakh applications. The issue listed at Rs 1,200, on the NSE and BSE, a premium of 140% as against an issue price of Rs 500
In the world of start-ups, Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh-led Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, got listed on the bourses on November 7. Although it had a tepid listing with the shares almost at par with the IPO price, investors, including VCs like Fireside Ventures and Stellaris Venture Partners, early investors like Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Marico’s Rishabh Mariwala and actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, were able to exit with manifold profits
In a shock announcement, Tata Group veteran Rajesh Gopinathan stepped down as the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services on March 16. After being with the IT giant for over two decades, Gopinathan said, “This is not the seat to sit on and think about my future plans. This is the seat to sit on and think about TCS’ future. The moment my future starts becoming a part of the thinking process, I think it’s appropriate that I step away and put somebody else here.”
The slew of job cuts at top tech companies continued throughout the year. Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, Snap, Spotify and Microsoft were among the big tech companies that laid off theirs staff across various divisions, some in lieu of shifting focus to generative AI