According to persons familiar with the situation, billionaire Gautam Adani intends to recruit a chief executive officer and select auditors from a premier international company for his family offices in order to increase the level of transparency often associated with listed businesses.

People involved with the negotiations, who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the talks, said that the founders of the mining-to-media conglomerate are in contact with two of the major six accounting firms to audit the family offices' books.

The actions highlight the lessons learned from the short seller attack of last year and seek to bring transparency to the management of the fortune of the second-richest individual in Asia, estimated at $105.4 billion. Hindenburg Research LLC subjected the first-generation entrepreneur to intensive scrutiny and criticism on a number of topics, including the group's opaque operations and control over its listed firms.

A team of around five employees, headed by a chief executive officer and chief investment officer, is now being hired. They will eventually answer to the billionaire founder and Group Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh. 

Up until recently, the CFOs of the group enterprises assisted in the informal management of the two wealth offices owned by the Adani family. An Adani Group spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

While it's not uncommon for wealth offices to be led by professionals, particularly for billionaires who are still actively managing their companies, efforts to appoint a global audit firm and strengthen disclosures are relatively uncommon and stand in stark contrast to the majority of family offices, which prioritize discretion and secrecy. 

This indicates that Adani is seeking a rebranding following a turbulent year-end. Enhanced openness will enhance the conglomerate's reputation as it continuously expands its worldwide reach and attracts international investors.

According to the sources, the recast family office management would provide financial reports for the increased disclosures the family want to make, as well as supervise the founders' holdings across the listed Adani Group entities. 

The recast family office will be fully functioning starting in April 2025, while some professional managers may be employed as early as next month. According to the folks, alterations to the structure can occur in the meantime.

Over the last five years, Adani's enterprise has expanded rapidly, frequently taking on additional debt. The sharply publicized surge in his companies' stock value and quick rate of expansion was brought about by Hindenburg's accusations of widespread corporate misconduct in January 2023. 

The Adani family was also under fire from the US short seller for allegedly controlling a bigger share in their listed companies than they had stated to exchanges through the use of a convoluted network of offshore companies.

Adani Group refutes these allegations, although, at one point in the last year, a short seller's scathing report reduced the market value of Adani enterprises by over $150 billion, forcing the founders into months-long damage management.

The Adani Group was able to regain most of its lost ground by implementing operational fixes such as reducing debt, controlling expenses, and attracting investors like GQG Partners Inc. However, the founders have now turned their attention to more serious issues like creating a succession plan and hiring experts to run their family offices.