Emami's founders quit executive roles and pay, handing the FMCG group to their sons

R.S. Agarwal and R.S. Goenka built Emami from a 1974 Kolkata cosmetics firm into one of India's largest FMCG companies, selling Zandu balm, BoroPlus and Fair and Handsome. Both founders had run the listed company as executive chairman and co-chairman into their seventies.

On 3 February 2022 the board announced that the two founders would step down from all executive positions from 1 April 2022 as part of a planned succession: Goenka became non-executive chairman, Agarwal became chairman emeritus, and both said they would take no pay for the new roles.

In the same resolution, R.S. Goenka's eldest son Mohan Goenka was made vice chairman and whole-time director, and R.S. Agarwal's younger son Harsha Vardhan Agarwal became vice chairman and managing director. Long-serving MD Sushil Kumar Goenka, a non-family professional, stepped down from the MD post to whole-time director to make room.

The single-stroke restructuring left both founder families represented in operations, kept a layer of professional directors, and ended the ambiguity of founders who hold executive titles but no longer run the day.

Founders moved to non-executive roles without pay; second-generation Mohan Goenka and Harsha Agarwal became vice chairmen running the company

Founders staying on as paid executives blurs who actually runs the company; Emami removed the ambiguity in one step.

Giving up emoluments signaled the move was about governance, not a retirement package.

Promoting one heir from each founding family kept the Agarwal-Goenka partnership balanced into the second generation.

Moving the professional MD aside gently — not out — preserved management continuity.

Clean founder exits are designed, not declared: cut the executive role, cut the pay, and hand operating titles to the heirs in one board resolution.

The second generation now runs Emami's operations, with the founders on the board only. The company has since pushed into male grooming rebrands, D2C acquisitions and international markets while the founders hold emeritus and non-executive roles.