Fortune India Exclusive: Adani Group scripts succession chart with four stars

Gautam Adani, one of the world’s top billionaires and founder and chairman of the Adani Group, will hand over the reins of his business empire to a select team of four family members—his two sons (Karan and Jeet) and two nephews (Pranav and Sagar). Called the G2 leadership, the 64-year-old Gautam Adani will give this team full control at an appropriate time in the coming years.

“The next generation does not inherit leadership. They inherit the responsibility to earn it. I expect them to challenge our assumptions, think on a scale larger than ours and move with greater speed, while having the patience to build businesses that may take decades to mature,” Gautam Adani told Fortune India exclusively.

Pranav Adani, 48, is the son of Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani; Karan Adani, 39, is Gautam Adani’s elder son; Sagar Adani, 32, is the son of Gautam Adani’s brother Rajesh Adani; and Jeet Adani, 29, is Gautam Adani’s younger son.

Gautam Adani started his business as a trader four decades ago and went on to expand his business from coal trading to thermal power, transmission, renewables, agri-commodities, ports and logistics, cement, natural gas, aviation and the like. The Adani Group now operates in more than two dozen business verticals with revenues of near ₹3 lakh crore in FY26 and with a market capitalisation of over ₹17 lakh crore from a dozen companies listed on Indian bourses. Adani’s personal wealth is estimated to be above $105 billion, or ₹10.11 lakh crore.

Commenting on the qualities he expected from his successors, Gautam Adani said they must have the courage to enter difficult sectors, the wisdom to learn from those around them, and the humility to realise the institution will always be bigger than any individual or family.

“Ultimately, I do not want them to be measured by how faithfully they preserve what we have built, but by how much stronger, more trusted and more enduring they make the businesses for the generations that follow,” he said in reply to an e-mailed questionnaire.

Here’s a closer look at the next-gen Adanis:

Pranav Adani

Eldest of the four successors, Pranav Adani is Director of Adani Enterprises Ltd and Managing Director, Agro, Oil & Gas. He heads a diverse portfolio of businesses, including real estate, urban infrastructure, city gas distribution (CGD), sports, and natural resources. At the Group level, he plays a key role as the chief custodian of the Adani brand and oversees its communications and branding arms. Pranav began his leadership journey in 1999 with Adani Wilmar, an agri-commodity joint venture, which the group exited last year. Today, he spearheads Adani Realty, the Group’s privately held real estate arm with big projects in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and the NCR. He also nurtured Adani Total Gas, a JV with Total Gas of France, into India’s largest private sector CGD company. A Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University, Pranav is also an alumnus of the Owners/President Management Program at Harvard Business School. An avid squash player, he is passionate about sports and is driving talent development.

Karan Adani

The eldest son of Gautam Adani and Dr Preeti Adani, Karan Adani is closely involved in the Adani Group’s ports, logistics, transportation, and cement businesses and management decisions across businesses at the top level. An economics graduate from Purdue University, Karan joined the Group in 2009 at Mundra Port as an executive, became CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) in 2016, and was appointed Managing Director in January 2024. Over this period, APSEZ has grown into a network of 20 ports and terminals across India and international markets. Under his leadership, the Group forayed into the cement business with the acquisition of Holcim’s India business for over ₹80,000 crore in 2022 and later spent more than ₹25,000 crore on six cement acquisitions. His latest acquisition was last week: APSEZ acquired Europe’s second-largest liquid storage operator Evos for €2.56 billion.

Sagar Adani 

Executive Director of Adani Green Energy, Sagar Adani joined the Adani Group in 2015 after graduating in Economics from Brown University. He began his career in Projects and is credited with building Adani Green Energy Ltd’s (AGEL) entire solar and wind portfolio. Apart from AGEL, he oversees the other energy portfolio companies of the Group—Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Power, and Adani New Industries. He is also responsible for the finance function of the Group and actively holds all key strategic financial relationships and capital allocation across Group companies. In the early part of his career, Sagar used to stay at project sites, braving harsh geographical and weather conditions, to execute Adani’s foray into renewables.

Jeet Adani

The youngest son of Gautam Adani and Dr Preeti Adani, Jeet Adani is Director at Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), which manages and develops eight airports. He leads several future-focused verticals across the Group, including artificial intelligence, data centres, defence, petrochemicals, and metals (copper and aluminium), reflecting his expanding role in shaping the Adani Group. He joined the Group in 2019 after attending the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. He began his career in the Group Chief Financial Officer’s office, working across capital markets, risk and governance policy, and strategic finance, with exposure to all listed businesses.