Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Daughter rises in Mukesh Ambani’s succession plan

Daughter rises in Mukesh Ambani’s succession plan

In the clearest hint of a succession roadmap, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani carved out definite roles for each of his three children at the annual general meeting of his $220bn (£193bn) retail-to-refining conglomerate in August.
Ambani's older twins, Akash and Isha Ambani, will lead Reliance Industries Ltd's telecommunications and retail businesses respectively, while his youngest son Anant is being groomed to handle new energy.Corporate India's most anticipated leadership transition - Reliance is one of India's most valuable companies by market valuation - has been in the works for some time. The particulars of the impending wealth transfer are sketchy at the moment, and largely in the realm of speculation.

But what is palpable is Ambani's desire to avoid repeating history: the acrimonious inheritance battle he waged with his younger brother 20 years ago, after their father died without leaving a will.

Isha Ambani's leadership role is also in stark contrast to the largely peripheral role that other women from her family have played in the core business until now.

Over the past two decades, there has been a generational shift in the number of prominent Indian industrial families bringing women into the corner office - though analysts say there is still a long way to go.

Ambani, 65, is actively involved in running Reliance as its chairman and managing director and could have bought more time before thrusting his children into the limelight.

But unlike many Asian patriarchs who hold a tight control over their wealth till the end, he represents a "new generation of family business leaders" in Asia who've witnessed succession feuds and want to take "every step possible" to make the journey for their children smooth, says Prof Kavil Ramachandran, a senior adviser at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business.

From the Tata group - which owns Jaguar and Land Rover - to the Singhania family that's behind the textiles major, Raymond Group, India Inc has seen a series of rancorous succession battles. These have led to messy lawsuits and long-winded arbitration proceedings that have proven to be costly to shareholders.

But wealthy Asian families like the Ambanis are once bitten, twice shy, experts say.

The issue of intergenerational wealth transfer is also "gaining even more significance in a Covid-19 context," according to wealth consulting firm Hubbis.

While fewer than half of Asian families have succession plans in place, the pandemic has encouraged 84% of India's ultra-wealthy to reassess how they will transfer their wealth, global property consultancy Knight Frank estimates.

What's also being reassessed, it appears, is the role of women in succession plans.

Speaking of the leadership roles his three children were assuming, Ambani in his speech said "they are first among equals in a young team of leaders and professionals who are already doing amazing things at Reliance".

Isha Ambani's rise as an "equal" to her brothers is a clear shift from her older female relatives - her aunts got married into other business families long before the inheritance dispute split the Ambani family.

But Ms Ambani, a Yale graduate who worked at the consulting giant McKinsey, has been groomed to join the Reliance empire.

Given the influence the Ambanis wield, especially within the traditional Gujarati mercantile community they belong to, this gender shift is likely to have a "strong messaging effect," Prof Ramachandran says.

It's "a significant move that will set the tone for other business families, " says Sandeep Nerlekar, founder and managing director of the legacy planning firm Terentia. He has been advising family-owned corporates on succession plans for over a decade.

Ms Ambani is part of a new generation of women from major business families who have taken on senior leadership roles. This includes Nisaba Godrej, who leads one of the country's oldest diversified conglomerates; Nadia Chauhan who heads Parle Agro, one of India's top consumer goods companies; and at least half a dozen others.

There are several forces behind the change, experts say - including more women accessing higher education, and traditional joint families giving way to nuclear ones.

More women are also "being vocal about their rights and capabilities without worrying about feathers being ruffled", says Dipali Goenka, managing director and CEO of Welspun India, part of the $2.7bn Welspun Group, one of India's biggest textile companies.

Ms Goenka got married at the age of 18 and joined her husband's business after her children grew up and she decided to study management at Harvard Business School.

But there is still a long way to go.

Eight in 10 families in India still continue to harbor a bias towards sons when it comes to estate planning, Nerlekar says, citing a Terentia study. "Even wealth distribution between a daughter and a son is not equal," he adds.

The bitter public battle for a board seat by Valli Arunachalam, one of the heirs to the Chennai-based Murugappa Group, only underscores how difficult it is for Indian women to break through the glass ceiling.

Legal changes - to Hindu succession laws for instance, which gave women equal inheritance rights, irrespective of marital status - have helped smooth the way for women, experts say. And government rules requiring women to be included on company boards is increasing representation as well

But experts say this is a battle against patriarchy - and it has only just begun.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
×