What was changed
Four Gujarati partners founded Asian Paints in 1942. Co-founder Arvind Vakil's death in 1960 showed the firm could not rely only on the founders, and it began building a line of talent beyond friends and family.
From 1968 the second generation — including Ashwin Dani, who joined in 1968 — hired qualified professionals from top institutions; P.M. Murty later became the first non-family MD/CEO, and from 1969 computers were used for inventory, forecasting and distribution.
The company became India's largest paint maker around 1968 and held the lead for decades, listing in 1982 and compounding its share price more than 20,000 times since; three of the four founding families still own it.
What it achieved
Run by professionals from the late 1960s, Asian Paints became India's No.1 paint maker by 1968 and kept the lead; shares compounded over 20,000 times since its 1982 IPO.
Why it worked
Recruited professionals from top institutes instead of family and friends.
Made a non-family member the first MD/CEO.
Adopted computers early for inventory and distribution.
Kept family ownership while separating management.
What can be applied
The most powerful succession decision can be to hand operations to professionals — multiple promoter families stayed owners while managers, not relatives, ran the company.
Aftermath
Asian Paints stayed India's paint leader into the 2020s, with FY23 revenue of Rs 29,953 crore, and expanded overseas — a model of professionalized family ownership.
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