Business | Seeking independence

How an ugly marital feud could change Indian business

Independent directors could become less toothless

Businessman Gautam Singhania poses with his wife in Mumbai on December 1, 2015.
Photograph: Getty Images
|Mumbai

A COMMON FEATURE of family business is friction, to put it politely, between relatives. When the business is a multibillion-dollar concern and the feuds carry a whiff of scandal—think the Redstones at Paramount Global or the Bettencourts at L’Oréal—they spawn bestsellers or Netflix documentaries. India, where family firms generate an estimated 79% of GDP, has no shortage of similar drama. The latest could produce something rather less frivolous—better corporate governance.

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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Seeking independence”

From the December 23rd 2023 edition

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