Adani Family Tops Hurun's List Of First-Gen Business Families With Active Second Gen Leaders

The Adani family has emerged as the top first generation business, with an active second generation part of the leadership, according to the 2024 Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Most Valuable Family Businesses list.

The Hurun India report, compiled in collaboration with Barclays Private Clients, showcases the substantial impact and wealth of India’s prominent family businesses. This inaugural edition highlights the immense value and growth of these enterprises.

With a business valuation of Rs 15.44 lakh crore, the Adani family topped Hurun's list on first-generation entrepreneur families with active second generation leaders. The Poonawalla family, which owns Serum Institute of India, followed next, with a business valuation of Rs 2.37 lakh crore.

The top three family businesses alone control interests worth $460 billion, equivalent to the GDP of Singapore, according to Hurun. The threshold to qualify for this list was set at Rs 2,700 crore.

Notably, 75% of the featured companies are publicly listed, with Haldiram Snacks emerging as India’s most valuable unlisted company, at Rs 63,000 crore. The list also highlighted gender diversity, with 15 companies part of Hurun's list on India's most valuable family businesses being led by women. Professional chief executive officers manage 53 of the 2024 listed businesses.

The majority of the companies in the list are engaged in physical products (85%), while the remaining 15% offer services. Additionally, 53% of the companies are consumer-facing, and 47% operate in the B2B sector, reflecting a broad spectrum of industry engagement and consumer impact.