On Monday, billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's children, Ananya Birla, 28, and Aryaman Vikram Birla, 25, were inducted as directors of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, marking the entry of the fifth generation of the family into the $60 billion conglomerate.
The siblings' appointment to the Aditya Birla Group's fashion retail business rather than its flagship cement and aluminium businesses is seen as a wise move, as their contributions may be more valuable in the rapidly changing fashion and new-age industries, which frequently see rapid shifts in consumer trends.
"Their nuanced understanding of new-age business models and emerging shifts in consumer behaviour will infuse fresh energy to the board of Aditya Birla Fashion," Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said.
Both were raised in the family's privately held companies. Ananya has been in business for over a decade, even as she pursued music on the side and her brother Aryaman represented the Madhya Pradesh Ranji team as well as the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League.
Ananya began her business career at the age of 17 when she founded Svatantra Microfin, a microfinance company. Apart from the first entrepreneurial venture into the hospitality industry, her younger brother, Aryaman, incubated the group's D2C platform, TMRW. Aryaman also oversees Aditya Birla Ventures, the group's venture capital fund.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has grown by amassing a formidable portfolio of fashion brands spanning all major segments of the Indian apparel market.
Ananya and Aryaman were recently appointed to the board of directors of Aditya Birla Management Corp., the apex body that provides strategic direction to the Aditya Birla Group's businesses. They will have a close look at the group's diverse businesses, including its flagship companies such as Grasim, Ultratech Cement, and Hindalco, after being inducted into the group's strategic think-tank.
“The choice of the fashion and retail business indicates that a lot of thought had gone into this decision; for instance, it would be an area where they can relate themselves very closely compared to the group’s most other businesses. Their induction into the group strategy team will allow them to learn and develop as responsible inheritors. It is significant that they are not provided with any executive leadership roles. In essence, I look at it as a mechanism to groom them as responsible owners and not operating owners," said Professor Kavil Ramachandran, a senior adviser at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business.
The Birla scions' induction mirrors recent moves by other business groups to bring in the generation-next. The Ambani family last year assigned responsibilities to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani's children, Akash, Isha, and Anant Ambani, to lead new-age businesses, while their father continues to oversee oil and gas, refineries, and petrochemicals. Noel Tata's children, Leah, Neville, and Maya, were appointed to the board of Tata Medical Centre Trust, a Tata Trusts affiliate, late last year, in a move seen as grooming the next generation of leaders.
Ananya and Aryaman's appointments were carefully planned, unlike Kumar Mangalam Birla, who was forced to take over responsibilities after the untimely death of his father, Aditya Birla. Kumar Mangalam Birla consolidated the carbon black, VSF, and other businesses, and made several strategic acquisitions in cement and aluminium, allowing the group to acquire global scale.
The group recently ventured into paints with a Grasim investment of 10,000 crore. Its telecom business, a joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc, is facing challenges, and the gen-next will be keeping a close eye on the executives in charge of these two ventures.