Father¡¯s Day 2024: 8 father-son duos who are successfully running multi-crore business empires
This year, Father's Day is celebrated on 18 June to express love and gratitude to all the wonderful fathers and father figures in the world. It is said that a father's emotions are often unexpressed, but his care and support are pillars of strength for their children throughout their lives. Children often look up to their father's accomplishments and dreams, but few build on their work and continue their legacy. This Father's Day, let's look at a...Read More
This year, Father's Day is celebrated on 16 June to express love and gratitude to all the wonderful fathers and father figures in the world. It is said that a father's emotions are often unexpressed, but his care and support are pillars of strength for their children throughout their lives. Children often look up to their father's accomplishments and dreams, but few build on their work and continue their legacy. This Father's Day, let's look at a few such families that have been the most inspiring father-son duos in business.
1. Anil Ambani - Anmol Ambani
Anmol Ambani is the eldest son of Anil Ambani, the Chairman of the Reliance Group, and Tina Ambani. He completed his primary education at the prestigious Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, known for its academic excellence and holistic development. He then enrolled for a Bachelor¡¯s degree in Management from the Seven Oaks School in the United Kingdom.
Anmol¡¯s professional journey began when he joined as a trainee at Reliance Capital. At the age of 18, he worked as an intern at Reliance Mutual Fund. In 2016, he joined as one of the board members of Reliance Capital as an additional director, the financial services arm of the Reliance Group. In this role, he played a pivotal role in strategising and executing key initiatives to enhance the company¡¯s growth and profitability. In 2017, he was appointed as the Executive Director of Reliance Capital. However, he resigned from the post within a year and joined the board of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and Reliance Home Finance. Under his leadership, the stock prices of the Reliance Group saw a rapid growth of 40%.
2. Azim Premji - Rishad Premji
Rishad Premji is the son of billionaire Azim Premji. He succeeded his father as the Executive Chairman of Wipro, which is India¡¯s one of the largest software service providers. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Wesleyan University as well as an MBA from Harvard. Rishad joined his father¡¯s empire in 2007 as the Chief Strategy Officer. Under his leadership, Wipro acquired many tech firms. In fact, it is among the most aggressive Indian IT services companies which has spent over $1.14 billion to buy five firms. Rishad is also the mastermind behind the $100 million Wipro Venture fund, which has invested in multiple startups across India and other countries.
3. Sajjan Jindal - Parth Jindal
Sajjan Jindal is the Chairman and Managing Director of the JSW Group, a massive multi-billion conglomerate. His son, Parth Jindal, has followed in the business magnate's footsteps and is currently heading JSW Cement as its Managing Director. He has achieved beyond what was bestowed upon him and also became the CEO of Bengaluru FC, which is owned by the JSW Group. Together, the father-son duo have big dreams for JSW, which has already diversified across sectors like steel, energy, and infrastructure. These dynamic father-and-son business success stories are truly exemplary. The stakes in business are high, and despite it all, they are moving forward with the support of each other.
4. Cyrus Poonawalla - Adar Poonawalla
43-year-old Adar Poonawalla is the son and heir to one of the richest men in the country, Cyrus Poonawalla. He studied at the University of Westminster and assumed his father¡¯s office in 2011. For those of you who don¡¯t know, Serum Institute is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced. It was under Adar¡¯s leadership that Serum began exporting its products globally. Most recently, Adar set up Poonawalla Finance to provide loans to low-income consumers and small businesses. Within four years of starting, the company has already lent $110 million. Other than that, the company is also working towards launching new low-cost vaccines for diseases like dengue and pneumonia. He also owns the Poonawalla Stud Farms, which has won 13 Champion Breeders' Awards. Adar is married to philanthropist and fashion enthusiast Natasha, who is often seen with the biggest Bollywood celebrities.
5. Lala Kedarnath Aggarwal - Shyam Sundar Aggarwal
Lala Kedarnath Aggarwal moved to Delhi after the partition in 1947 from Bikaner to earn a livelihood. He started selling traditional sweets and savouries in a trolley in Chandni Chowk. His hard work and luck favoured him, and the business soon took off. In a short span of time, he started a small shop named 'Bikaner Namkeen Bhandar' in the same area, offering nankeens and snacks. Over time, the establishment gained recognition as 'Bikanervala' and became popular for delivering Bikaneri bhujia and other authentic Indian snacks. In 1965, Lala's son, Shyam Sundar Aggarwal, joined the business to expand Bikanervala across and outside the National Capital Region. He also launched the packaged food brand, Bikano. Building on the legacy of Bikanervala, third-generation entrepreneur Manish Aggarwal joined the business in 2000. Bikano now offers different varieties of namkeens, cookies, sweets, papad, syrups, and flour-based foods like matthi and samosa. It has over 270 domestic and more than 320 international outlets, with frozen foods forming the backbone of its export business. It exports to 45 countries, including America and England.
6. Gautam Adani - Karan Adani
Karan Adani is the son of the second richest man in India after Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of the Adani Group. He studied management at Purdue University and joined his family business in 2009. By 2016, he had taken over the operations for Adani Ports and SEZ Limited. Under his leadership, the company acquired its 10th port, which is located in Kathupalli, Tamil Nadu, from Larsen & Toubro. Last year, Karan began overseeing the group¡¯s airport projects, which include the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Jaipur International Airport, Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport, Mangalore International Airport, and Trivandrum International Airport. He is well on track to becoming one of India's biggest future business tycoons.
7. Anand Burman - Aditya Burman
Aditya is the sixth-generation successor of the Burman family that owns and operates Dabur. The family ranks 13th on the Forbes 2019 list of the 100 Richest Indians. He studied Chemistry at the University of Kansas and joined Dabur Pharma Limited as an intern in 2003. Recently, his father Anand Burman stepped down as Dabur¡¯s Chairman to make way for his cousin Amit. Aditya was given a seat on the Board of Directors in July 2019. He is also a Director on the board of Oncquest Laboratories Ltd., which focuses on Oncology and Genetics. He has been instrumental in streamlining operations, strengthening its research function, and giving it a pan-India presence to drive growth. Besides that, Aditya is also the director for Dabur Nepal Pvt Ltd as well as the President of the Delhi Chapter of Entrepreneurs¡¯ Organisation, a global network exclusively for entrepreneurs. The Delhi-based scion also supports several charities in the healthcare and awareness space. Aditya is married to Shivani Sud, a trained classical Hindustani singer from a hotelier family. Their pre-wedding celebrations involved creating an entire Matrix film set.
8. Mukesh Ambani - Akash Ambani
Mukesh Ambani¡¯s eldest son, Akash Ambani has already begun creating ripples into his father¡¯s massive empire. Akash holds a degree in Economics from Brown University. He currently sits on the Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and is also the Chief Strategist and heads business development of the company. Under his guidance, Jio has acquired over a dozen tech startups that work with AI, last-mile delivery and music streaming. In fact, since its launch in 2016, Jio is among the country¡¯s biggest mobile carriers. And its unbelievably low rates has put its competitors at the risk of pulling down their shutters. Considering that he is the heir to the richest man in India, his wedding to diamond heiress Shloka Mehta had guests like Google CEO Sundar Pichai to former UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon and Bollywood¡¯s biggest stars in attendance.
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