‘They’re all coming up into good shape’: Sunil Bharti Mittal talks about succession, brings up sons, daughter, nephews

The next generation of Mittals as well as key management executives are all coming up in good shape, said Bharti Group founder Sunil Bharti Mittal. He said that succession was something he had not thought of a few years ago but things are falling in place well currently.

In an interview to The Economic Times, Mittal spoke of his sons, Sharvin and Kavin, his daughter Eiesha Bharti Pasricha, and his nephews, Zubin and Ramit from his brothers Rajan Bharti Mittal and Rakesh Bharti Mittal.

“I think my next generation, my sons, my daughter, nephews, they all are coming up into good shape. Both my boys have had years of experience outside, building their own companies, their own ventures, their own fronts. And they are now engaging at the shareholder level. They're getting to see what's going on in Airtel in a much more detailed manner, which was never the case before. So I would say in four or five years, you will start to see step by step those changes happening,” he said.

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Mittal, speaking of Sharvin Bharti Mittal, said he was the co-chair of Airtel Africa, along with Gopal Vittal as the chair. He said he is “off” Airtel Africa, making it the first change to be seen from the family side. He said he is available for consultations and still looks at the quarterly results, but it is mostly Sharvin’s job.

“He's also on the board of Airtel Money. He's been there from day one. And he's looking at many of our international areas of work like satellites and he also has his own fund. And I can see in him a very solid, strong, stable hand who can really deal with very critical aspects of the enterprise,” he said.

He called Kavin a technologist. “He has run his own company with 250 people, and became a unicorn. He has his own skills, but his focus is deep tech and solving critical and complex issues. He's also got very broad shoulders to deal with a lot of issues. How they combine between themselves has to be worked out as we go forward,” he said, referring to Hike. Hike was once hailed as India’s homegrown challenger to WhatsApp but had to close its doors after 13 years in operation last year.

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“My daughter runs a hospitality business with her husband, they are already very successful,” he said, referring to Eiesha Bharti Pasricha and her husband and London-based hospitality entrepreneur Sharan Pasricha. “They have over 200 hotels globally, managing multiple brands in hospitality,” he said.

Mittal then spoke of Zubin, Rajan Bharti Mittal’s son, who is already in Airtel Finance. “He is helping me with Haier, our new investment in consumer appliances. They will develop their own businesses, get their own training in a different way,” said Mittal.

“Rakesh’s son is running his food business,” said Mittal, referring to Ramit Mittal, who runs Gourmet Investments, a multi-brand hospitality platform whose portfolio includes PizzaExpress, Chili's American Grill & Bar, PF Chang's and Olive Garden.

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“So, we are not the classic family business type of people, we are different. My own view is, treat us as a family in business, not a family business. We are not doctors, lawyers, we are a family in business but we are not a family business,” he said in the interview.

Mittal also spoke about Airtel and its ecosystem, where the succession is already in place. He said there are “very fine minds and talent who are there”. He referred to Gopal Vittal “lifting himself to a group level, being the executive vice chair” along with Shashwat Sharma taking over in India and Sunil Taldar in Africa.

He said, speaking about the succession in Airtel that if the family was not to be a shareholder, Airtel would be “okay with a strong board and running itself”. Mittal said that he is aware that such companies become risk averse and that in times of crisis, a stewardship or anchor shareholders are required.

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