Mukesh Ambani

Indian entrepreneur and industrialist

• Born: April 19, 1957
• Place of Birth: Aden, Yemen

As the chairman and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited, Ambani greatly expanded the company, which had been founded by his father. In October 2007, he briefly topped the list of the world's wealthiest people, becoming the first Indian to claim that title. As of April 2024, Ambani is the richest person in Asia and the eleventh richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $116.5 billion.

Early Life

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani was born in Aden, Yemen, in 1957, to Gujarati-speaking Hindu parents. His parents soon moved to Mumbai, India, where his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, established a small spice-trading company that later became a yarn manufacturer and then, eventually, Reliance Industries. The family lived in a modest tenement apartment, and Ambani learned frugal habits that would stay with him into adulthood.

By the late 1960s, the business was thriving, and the family moved to a wealthy neighborhood, but Ambani and his siblings were never pampered. Their father, who had not completed high school, insisted that in addition to being educated, they learn how to use public transportation and other everyday skills that working-class people need for survival. Ambani attended the Abaay Morischa School in Mumbai, then completed a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Mumbai’s University Institute of Chemical Technology. The family spoke Gujarati at home, a habit that Ambani would maintain later in life.

First Ventures

As the oldest son in a traditional patriarchal culture, Ambani was deemed the heir apparent and was groomed to succeed his father. He was named a member of the board of directors of the ever-diversifying and expanding Reliance Industries while still in his late teens.

In 1979, Ambani began a master of business administration program at Stanford University in California. When he was only halfway through the program, his father, who believed that business education was best obtained through experience, called him home to set up a yarn factory in a small village. This was no small venture: Ambani's father gave him the equivalent of $100 million to start the project, sure that he could make a success of it.

Ambani showed a talent for management and a willingness to involve himself in the gritty details that helped build loyalty among his workers. Under his guidance, the yarn business led to the manufacture of polyester fibers, which led to the development of a petrochemical business.

Mature Wealth

Dhirubhai Ambani was a legend, widely admired and beloved because he was seen to have succeeded through hard work and honorable dealings. When he died in 2002, Reliance Industries was a huge, publicly owned multinational corporation, dealing in industrial manufacturing, petrochemicals, electrical power, banking, biotechnology, and communications technology. After their father’s death, Ambani and his brother Anil fought for control of the company until their mother, a major stockholder, stepped in and divided the company into two independent entities. Ambani became chairman, managing director, and main shareholder of Reliance Industries, the largest business in India.

More reform-minded than his father or his brother, Ambani undertook enormous projects to help meet the energy demands of India’s growing middle class and combat the enduring poverty of the lower classes. He engaged in deepwater offshore exploration for oil and natural gas to reduce the amount of energy India needed to import, and he built the world’s largest oil refinery, part of a $6 billion complex at Jamnagar, in the state of Gujarat. He established a network of grocery stores and other retail stores to help poor farmers find markets for their goods and create jobs for middle-class merchants. These projects had significant social effects on the developing nation while also making handsome profits for Reliance. In 2008, Ambani, through Reliance Industries, bought the Mumbai Indians cricket team franchise for a ten-year period.

For a short period of time at the end of October 2007, an unexpected increase in Reliance's stock prices allegedly pushed Ambani's personal fortune to a record-breaking $63.2 billion. While this sudden surge in fortune did not last and the numbers were later disputed, Ambani has consistently appeared in Forbes magazine's World's Billionaires list of the wealthiest people in the world, and in 2014 he was named the richest person in India for the eighth year in a row. As of April 2024, Ambani is the richest person in Asia and the eleventh richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $116.5 billion. In August 2024, Mukesh was surpassed as the wealthiest Indian by Gautam Adani.

Legacy

Ambani is often said to be the face of an emerging Indian capitalism. His derives his wealth from such modern industries as petrochemicals, telecommunications industries, and online gambling—and from success in the stock market. By consistently being ranked among the richest and most respected business leaders in the world, he has inspired other Indians to believe that they—and their country—can succeed in the twenty-first century.

Personal Life

Ambani is married to businesswoman and philanthropist Nita Ambani. The couple have three children, fraternal twins Akash and Isha and younger son Anant. In October 2014, Akash and Isha, then twenty-two, were appointed to the boards of Reliance subsidiaries Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail Ventures. In 2023, Ambani's all three of his children assumed roles on the board of Reliance. Akash, the eldest son, leads Jio; daughter Isha is responsible for overseeing retail and financial services; while the youngest son, Anant, is involved in the energy sector.

Bibliography

Forbes, Nausaud, and David Wield. From Followers to Leaders: Managing Technology and Innovation in Newly Industrializing Countries. Routledge, 2002.

Gupta, Cherry. "Hurun Rich List: Gautam Adani Replaces Mukesh Ambani to Become Wealthiest Indian; Shah Rukh Khan Makes Debut in Richest List." Indian Express, 30 Aug. 2024, indianexpress.com/article/trending/top-10-listing/top-10-richest-indians-in-2024-adani-replace-ambani-in-hurun-rich-list-9539532/. Accessed 30 Aug. 2024.

Hiscock, Geoff. India’s Global Wealth Club: The Stunning Rise of Its Billionaires and Their Secrets of Success. Wiley, 2007.

Karmali, Naazneen. "22-Year-Old Twins of India's Richest Man Mukesh Ambani Get Board Seats." Fobes, 13 Oct. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2014/10/13/mukesh-ambanis-22-year-old-twins-get-board-seats/?sh=b53bc60500fd. Accessed 30 Aug. 2024.

Khanna, Tarun. Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures—and Yours. Harvard Business School, 2007.

"Mukesh Ambani." Forbes, 1 Apr. 2024, www.forbes.com/profile/mukesh-ambani/?sh=65c14b76214c, Accessed 30 Aug. 2024.