Search
+
    The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Most Powerful CEOs 2013: What the 2030 list may look like

    Synopsis

    Akash Ambani, Rohan Murty, Karan Adani, Jai Anmol Ambani, Ananyashree Birla, Aalika Mahindra etc...What would the Most Powerful CEOs 2030 list look like? Team CD indulges in a flight of fancy...

    ET Bureau
    What would the Most Powerful CEOs 2030 list look like? Team CD indulges in a flight of fancy

    Akash Ambani & Anant Ambani

    While their father, the 73-year-old Mukesh Ambani is still going strong, the next-gen duo is leading the global charge. Akash Ambani, 38, and Anant Ambani, 35, run the $200 bn RIL empire with older brother running the oil business, now one of the world's largest after the BP acquisition.

    With Exxon Mobil and Pemex in the crosshairs, the coming year could be big for the Ambani duo. Anant's bid for ICC presidentship, after completing three years as BCCI top honcho, is a closely followed affair too.

    Meanwhile daughter Isha follows in her mother’s footsteps.


    Image article boday


    Jai Anmol Ambani & Jai Anshul Ambani

    Under daddy Anil Ambani's guidance, the 38-year-old Jai Anmol and Jai Anshul, 35, are growing from strength to strength. The $120 billion group is consolidating its telecom empire extending from Myanmar to Brazil.

    While Jai Anmol has been globetrotting, talking to African, Brazilian and European partners, Jai Anshul has been overseeing the financial, infrastructure and entertainment side of the business.


    Image article boday


    Ananyashree Birla, Aryaman Vikram Birla and Advaitesha Birla


    Image article boday
    The 63-year-old Kumar Mangalam Birla set another benchmark when he elevated the 35-year-old Ananyashree Birla on the Aditya Birla Group leadership team, after her stints at Hindalco and Aditya Birla Nuvo.

    With Aryaman Vikram Birla, 32, overseeing the global assets from the group's globalisation office at London, especially the LatAm and African acquisitions, he is taking his grandfather Aditya Vikram Birla's dream of a global empire to a new orbit. With the 26-year-old Advaitesha cutting her teeth at the telecom business, the trio is taking the Birla legacy forward.

     
    Aalika Mahindra & Divya Mahindra

    With professional managers running Mahindra & Mahindra, CMD Anand Mahindra's daughters, Aalika and Divya, oversee the group's global expansion. Senior Mahindra's strategy of buying or acquiring large stakes in struggling European car makers is paying off handsomely.

    With stakes in French brand Bugatti, Renault and Peugeot Citroën, and the recent acquisition of Ford's European assets, Aalika and Divya will soon be steering India's global auto major.


    Image article boday


    Kavin and Shravin Mittal

    With the 72-year-old patriarch Sunil Mittal focusing on philanthropy, the 38-year-old twins Kavin and Shravin run one of the world largest integrated telecom-media-entertainment companies.

    Having launched low-cost services across Asia, Africa and LatAm, they are gunning for a larger share of the handheld services pie with a plethora of media and entertainment services. If talks with Telefonica fructify into a deal, the combine could be the most valuable telecom play in the globe. The Mittal brothers' next big target: own the mobile operating system and payment gateways as well.

    Rohan Murty & Lakshmi Venu

    They are the new-age power couple with the 47-year-old Rohan Murty having made it to the Forbes Midas list for the fifth time after three of his investee companies debuted on NASDAQ, setting new records.

    The Bangalore-based VC who helped fund the new wave of leading edge predictive technologies and low-cost sustainable solutions for cities is taking the Indian IT products story to new heights. Lakshmi Venu is busy consolidating the $40 bn group after acquiring a Chinese company, an Italian design company and a failing American auto component major with a lot of patents.


    Image article boday
     

    Anant Goenka

    Having developed a super-grip tyre that has taken the world by storm and made Ceat the Formula 1 favourite, Anant Goenka heads a Fortune 500 company that has operations in four continents, all distinguished by the RPG manufacturing system that is studied in every B-school.

    At the age of 48, Anant has begun to disengage from business, leaving the day-to-day management to professionals. His focus is the RPG Museum, which houses the family's vast art collection and is one of the largest private museums in the world.


    Roshni Nadar

    Image article boday


    As Chairperson of the $25 billion HCL group, Roshni Nadar is the tsarina of edutainment. Nadar's group straddles everything from low-end IT offerings to the highly lucrative education market.

    The 48-year-old billionaire also owns a major online TV hub mirroring her basic training in radio, TV and film from Northwestern University.

    Like her father, Roshni is known for her philanthropic crusades and has carved a name in the art of giving through the Shiv Nadar Foundation.



    Rishad and Tariq Premji

    Image article boday

    When the 52-year-old Chairman and CEO of Wipro Technologies, Rishad Premji, shifted the headquarters to Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, his mission was to take the challenge to the doors of competitors, mainly IBM, the other major IT company in town.

    Having restarted the string of pearls acquisition strategy and spending heavily on R&D, the outsourcing major is hardselling the next-gen enterprise solutions and services based on cloud. Brother Tariq, vice chairman, holds fort in Bangalore and aims to make Wipro a global outsourcing company with an Indian presence rather than vice-versa.

     

    Annuvrat Kant Munjal

    Annuvrat Kant Munjal has come of age, with his father Pawan Kant Munjal having relinquished the role of CEO in his favour, while retaining the managing director's designation of the $10 bn low-cost mobility major.

    Next month, Munjal Jr. is expected to inaugurate India's first shale gas-powered four-wheeler in Gurgaon under the watchful gaze of his sisters Vasudha and Supriya, who are also whole-time directors in the company.

    Karan Adani and Jeet Adani

    Image article boday

    At the age of 42, Karan Adani heads Adani Ports, and its two subsidiaries Adani Rail and Adani Airports, which together handle most of the of the country's export-import traffic.

    His wife Paridhi is in charge of the group's FMCG business, which has moved beyond cooking oil to a range of personal care products, while younger brother Jeet, a doctor by training, looks after the Adani chain of hospitals in Gujarat.

    Patriarch Gautam Adani, 68, handles Adani Power, which has extended operations to Delh



    Siddharth Mallya

    Image article boday

    If the Mallya name is uttered in the same breath as Gucci and Armani today, it's thanks to Siddharth Mallya. Coming into his own after his family's exit from the liquor business (though the Mallyas continue to own a stake in United Breweries and United Spirits), the 43-year-old Siddharth's single-minded focus on the luxury segment has put India on the international fashion map.

    ( Originally published on Jul 12, 2013 )
    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
    ...more
    Wealth edition
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in