Gautam Adani Retirement: No Date Set, Succession Plan in Motion

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) Billionaire Gautam Adani has not set any specific date or point in time for retiring and handing over his USD 210-billion ports-to-energy conglomerate to his sons and nephews, his group's flagship firm informed the stock exchanges.

In the filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd said the group chairman has been "misquoted" in a media report "about heirs and equal beneficial interest in the family trust".

"In a recent interview, Mr. Gautam Adani shared his thoughts on succession planning to ensure business sustainability. He said that succession is not just one event, but a journey, and that it must be organic, gradual and systematic," the firm said.

He, however, did not set 70 years as the date of his retirement as stated in the report.

"Mr. Adani did not specify any date or point in time," the company said. "Further, Mr. Adani has been misquoted about heirs and equal beneficial interest in the family trust. He had mentioned the involvement of his two sons and two nephews in various businesses of the group."

Bloomberg News on August 5 reported that Adani, 62, plans to step down at 70.

Without giving a direct quote for the statement, Bloomberg News quoted the Adani group chairman as saying, "Succession is very, very important for the business sustainability... I left the choice to the second generation as the transition must be organic, gradual and very systematic."

The report identified his sons, Karan (37) and Jeet (26), and their cousins, Pranav (45) and Sagar (30), as the possible successors.

When Gautam Adani retires, his four heirs will become equal beneficiaries of the family trust which along with eight overseas entities and a domestically incorporated company control Adani Enterprises, the Bloomberg News report said.

In the stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises did not put any date for the succession or retirement.

"Further, Mr Adani has been misquoted about heirs and equal beneficial interest in the family trust," it said.

Adani started off as a commodity trader in 1988 and expanded rapidly into ports, airports, roads, power, renewable energy, power transmission, gas distribution, real estate, FMCG, cement, data centres and media business.

The stunning share price rises of Adani's listed companies helped propel him to become India's richest and briefly the world's second-richest person in September 2022. This was before US short seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of "the largest con in corporate history" and using a web of companies in tax havens to inflate its revenue and manipulate stock prices, even as debt burden rose.

While the group repeatedly denied all allegations, the report sent group stock down to as much as USD 150 billion in value at one point. Most companies have recouped the losses but Adani has not been able to reclaim the richest Indian tag on a sustained basis.

With a net worth of USD 103 billion, he is ranked at No.12 behind fellow Gujarati billionaire Mukesh Ambani on the global rich list.