Gautam Adani: Asia’s richest man in the eye of a storm

India’s Gautam Adani, the school drop-out turned billionaire who rose to become Asia’s richest man, faces possibly the biggest challenge of his career after a US short seller cast doubts on his business practices, hammering shares in his companies and his reputation.

Adani, whose home state is Gujarat in western India, built his business empire from scratch after starting as a commodities trader. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails from the same state and their relationship has come...