‘You’ve got to do the right thing’: Gautam Singhania on losing family ties to protect Raymond amid public feuds
Raymond Group chairman and managing director Gautam Singhania has said he lost close family relationships in his efforts to protect the company, citing his responsibility towards the thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on the business.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2026 on Thursday, Singhania discussed family disputes, succession planning and the importance of governance in family-run businesses. He said safeguarding the organisation sometimes required difficult decisions, even when they came at a personal cost.
“I’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been able to address it, because I’ve lost a lot of my family to protect this organisation,” Singhania said, as quoted by NDTV.
Emphasising that the company’s responsibilities extended beyond its leadership, he pointed to the livelihoods it supports.
“This organisation is not me; it’s the 50,000 families that work for my company. And I have a responsibility to them as well,” he said.
Singhania acknowledged that his disagreements with family members had unfolded publicly, but maintained that he had to prioritise what he believed was right for the organisation.
“I’ve had my fair share of fair fights with my family, which have been very, very public. But then you’ve got to do the right thing, and you know, this is where we are,” he said during the conversation with NDTV.
Reflecting on the disputes over the past 25 years, Singhania said he had been able to resolve the issues that arose. He also cited his position as the company’s principal and sole shareholder as a factor that gave him greater autonomy in decision-making.
“There are issues, and different groups, there are different issues. I think I’ve been very lucky that I’ve resolved 100% of these issues over the last 25 years. I’m lucky to be in a company where I’m the principal and only shareholder of the company. It gives me the liberty to be able to do what I want to do, what I believe in,” he said.
His comments underscored the governance challenges that can arise when family relationships and business interests intersect, particularly in companies where ownership, succession and management are closely linked.
Singhania was also asked about Raymond’s iconic The Complete Man tagline and what the brand philosophy means today.
He described the concept as an ideal to strive towards rather than a state that a person can definitively achieve.
“There is no complete man. It’s an infinite line, which is why it’s worked brilliantly for us. And the complete man is an aspiration. You can aspire to be the complete man; you can never become the complete man,” he said, as quoted by NDTV.
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer
Get Latest real-time updates
Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More
✕
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.