By Mukesh Ambani: business and family go hand in hand
If you are looking for a story of wealth creation in the 21st century, you can only score if you look in the direction of Mukesh Ambani. This is not a person you would particularly recognize even if you met up along your local streets, not to mention the busy social media spaces. Meeting him for the first time, one easily notices the deep eye-bags and heavy set appearance. For an individual who is doing so well in the tech development world, Mukesh is a shy contrast to the western tech gurus of our time. Behind that laid-back demeanor is a force that places him among the who-is-who in a country of more than 1.4 billion people. The path that Mukesh took to acquire and grow his fortune is one that sparks interest among many admirers.
How did it all begin?
In 1958, Ambani’s father relocated his family to India from Yemen where the young techpreneur was born. The main purpose of the move was so that he could start a textile and spices business in his homeland. Business was good for the family because by1970 they had shifted from a two-bedroomed house to a 14-storey apartment that housed the now growing family. The family’s financial status even enabled the parents to pay for an overseas education at Stanford for Mukesh. It was during his second year of MBA that Mukesh dropped out to help his father in the business. While it was a surprise move for Dhirubhai to recall his son from his studies to do business, his philosophy of being sharp in business only through experience definitely paid off.
By the time Mukesh was joining his father in the business in 1981, Reliance Industries Limited had diversified interest to include dealing in petrochemicals and crude oil refining. The business also had investments in telecommunications and retail.
The great fall-out between brothers
When their father, Dhirubhai Ambani, passed away in 2002, Mukesh and his brother Anil, inherited the family business. The first few years however were not smooth because there was no will of testament. Given that Mukesh had been at the forefront of growing their father’s estate, Mukesh must have felt entitled to a larger share of the inheritance.
The decade-long dispute was settled by their mother in 2005 and each of the brothers got a portion of their father’s properties. Mukesh walked away with control of petrochemicals, refining, textiles, gas and oil while Anil took over the telecommunications, assets management, power generation, entertainment and construction functions of the business.
With each brother controlling different segments of their father’s business, Anil ran into misfortune when the power generating business started pilling debts. At the same time, the telecommunications business suffered over-competition as many other players entered the market. Mukesh was however quick to bail out Anil by buying the assets of the telecommunications business, Reliance Communications.
The journey to filthy-rich
Did you know that Mukesh Ambani is the only Indian to feature on the Forbes list of the world’s top individuals? Well, in October 2020, Forbes ranked him at number 6 a position that knocks out Alibababa’s Jack Ma.
Even after going through some tough times under the control of Anil Ambani, the refinery function of the Reliance Industries continues to be the mainstay of the empire. Its success has attracted Saudi Arabian Oil Co who are negotiating a $15 billion-dollar stake. The refinery has the capacity to process more than 660,000 barrels daily.
During the Progressive Punjab Summit in 2013 held at Mohali, Ambani announced that groundwork has been laid for the roll out of a 4G network in his home country of India. This meant a short scale investment of Rs 1.8 trillion. 2016 was another great success-filled year for Ambani as another of his companies, Jio, launched LYF, a 4G enabled smartphone. This product went on to become the 3rd most sold brand in India. In another of Ambani’s anticipated announcements during the 40th RIL AGM, he went on to announce a 1:1 bonus share issue, the highest to ever be offered in India.
Mukesh Ambani’s fortune currently stands at $85.5 billion, as per reports made by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he is one of the richest people on our planet. This is the same group who in 2018 estimated that Ambani’s wealth at the time was enough to run the budget of the federal government of India for 20 days. For Ambani, business and family go hand in hand; together with his family, they control 43% stake at RIL.While family is a huge aspect of his success, Ambani does not sit back to enjoy the fruits of the wealth he found. He continues to fuel the legacy that was begun by his father; growing it in leaps and bounds.
