Dilip Shanghvi.
Mexy Xavier/Forbes India
This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of India’s Richest 2025. See the full list here.
Speculation about succession at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, India’s most valuable drug maker, was put to rest this year when its billionaire founder, Dilip Shanghvi, made some changes at the top.
Son Aalok, 41, who’s been working at the company since 2006, was appointed chief operating officer in February, while daughter Vidhi, 38, who heads consumer healthcare with the additional responsibility of overseeing domestic distribution, was named executive director in May. Four months later, Shanghvi transitioned to executive chairman, relinquishing his position as managing director to a company veteran.
Shrikant Akolkar, an analyst at Mumbai-based financial services firm Nuvama Research, says it’s the right time for the heirs to step up. Sun Pharma had “a rough patch” after it acquired troubled Ranbaxy Laboratories in 2015 for $4 billion, he says, but “[the siblings] have come out of it very successfully.”
The company has regained its appetite for acquisitions: It recently bought Checkpoint Therapeutics, a U.S. maker of an FDA-approved skin cancer drug, for $355 million. Sun Pharma’s revenue, almost two-thirds of which comes from overseas, jumped 8% in the year to March 31 to 525.8 billion rupees ($5.8 billion) while net profit rallied 14% to 109.2 billion rupees.