Gautam Adani has unveiled his succession plan. The 62-year-old plans to retire at the age of 70. Now, the control will be transferred to his sons and cousins, as per a Bloomberg report.
Adani's sons, Karan and Jeet, along with their cousins, Pranav and Sagar, reportedly informed that they wished to manage the conglomerate as a family.
Gautam Adani has unveiled his succession plan. The 62-year-old plans to retire at the age of 70. Now, the control will be transferred to his sons and cousins, as per a Bloomberg report.
The billionaire's succession plan has attracted all eyeballs on the business segment. With a net worth of $111 billion, Adani is one of the richest men in Asia. Speaking to Bloomberg, Adani said, “I left the choice to the second generation as the transition must be organic, gradual and very systematic.”
Now, the question arises, who will lead the business empire from 2030s once the business tycoon turns 70? Adani's sons, Karan and Jeet, along with their cousins, Pranav and Sagar, reportedly informed that they wished to manage the conglomerate as a family. Thus, they will continue to work together after Adani steps down.
In separate interviews, his successors highlighted the need to work as one family and take decisions together, even though they might work in different verticals. While 37 year old elder son Karan is the CEO of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd, 26 year old Jeet Adani, is the Director, Adani Airports business.
Their nephews, Pranav , 45, is the Director of Adani Enterprises and Sagar, 30 is the Executive Director of Adani Green Energy Ltd. Interestingly, Adani has never played favourite between his sons and nephews. The family has always talked about the amicable atmosphere that exits between them amid the different business challenges that they face. “The family members who are in headquarters have lunch together each day, where day-to-day issues are discussed,” said Pranav in an interview with Bloomberg. Jeet meanwhile reportedly expressed that they all naturally understood the importance of staying united, having grown up watching their fathers work together.
The businesses under the Adani group include Renewable Power Generation, Solar Manufacturing, Power Transmission, Gas Distribution, Thermal Power Generation and Natural Resources.
Pranav, the Managing Director (Agro, Oil & Gas) and Director of Adani Enterprises started his journey in 1999. Now, he heads a diversified portfolio that includes Real Estate, Natural Gases, Agro and City Gas Distribution. One of the most interesting projects in his portfolio is the redevelopment of Dharavi slums in Mumbai.
The Adani group was awarded the tender for the redevelopment of the slum. The projects intend to transfer commercial organisations and slum residents, total of 68,000 people. It has been under lots of political tensions as well with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray saying that they will scrap the tender once they come to power due to irregularities.
Considered technologically savvy with a global outlook, Karan spearheads Adani Ports and SEZ Limited (APSEZ). In January this year, the elder son of the business tycoon was elevated as MD of the APSEZ. Karan who joined the business in 2009, slowly elevated his way into the business and became the CEO of the Mundra Port in 2016. Karan has repeatedly talked about the company’s plan to expand in India and abroad. Speaking to the Economic Times, he said, “We are not just going to be a port company, but more of a solution company to our customers and give them a solution for their logistics needs all the way to their factory gate and hence develop whatever infrastructure we need to do in the hinterland.”
After completing his studies in the USA, Sagar joined the Adani Group in 2015. He became the Executive Director of Adani Green Energy and is “credited with building the entire solar and wind portfolio of Adani Green Energy”. The company has been increasing its focus on green energy now. By 2030, the company plans to invest Rs 2 lakh crore to reach a target of 50 GW renewable energy capacity. Sagar has extensively talked about the need to shift to renewable energy. In an interview with CNN, he said, “There is no choice for India but to start doing things at a previously unimagined size and scale.”
Jeet, the younger son of the billionaire, started his tenure at the company in 2019. He initially began with his work at the Group’s CFO office with focus on Strategic Finance, Capital Markets and Risk and Governance Policy. Now, he is the director of Adani Airports. The group recently announced that over the next 5 to 10 years, they are planning to expand to 7 airports in the country with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. In January this year, Jeet reportedly said, “In the near future, yes (will list the company’s airport business). It depends on some triggers. We have a couple of triggers that we need to cross before we do it.”
An interesting thing to observe will be how the business transitions rapidly without any dispute or bad blood. One recent example of a family dispute that shook the nation was the bitter feud between Mukesh and Anil Ambani. Before a compromise was reached by their mother, the brother faced uncertainty and confusion about who would handle what. The succession feud was triggered after the death of Dhirubai Ambani without a succession plan.
With Reliance's restructuring, Mukesh Ambani has been working on a succession plan for his children— Isha, Aakash, and Anant Ambani. He first mentioned this plan for the oil-to-telecom conglomerate in 2022, stating that each child would lead different divisions: Akash would oversee telecom, Isha would manage retail, and Anant would head new energy. In 2023, Mukesh Ambani stated that he would dedicate the next five years of his chairmanship to preparing them to lead the conglomerate’s transformation into a digital, consumer, and green energy powerhouse.