Mukesh Ambani

Mukesh Ambani
Born Mukesh Ambani
(1957-04-19) 19 April 1957
Aden, Colony of Aden (now Yemen)[1][2]
Residence Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Institute of Chemical Technology
Forest School (Walthamstow)
Stanford University (discontinued)[3]
Occupation Chairman of Reliance Industries
Net worth Increase US$22.4 billion (August 2016)[4]
Religion Hinduism
Spouse(s) Nita Ambani (m. 1985)
Children Akash Ambani
Anant Ambani
Isha Ambani[5]
Parent(s) Dhirubhai Ambani
Kokilaben Ambani
Relatives Anil Ambani (Brother)
Website Mukesh Ambani

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian business magnate who is the chairman, managing director and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a Fortune Global 500 company and India's second-most valuable company by market value.[6][7][8] He holds a 44.7% stake in the company.[9] RIL deals mainly in refining, petrochemicals, and in the oil and gas sectors. Reliance Retail Ltd., another subsidiary, is the largest retailer in India.[10]

He is the elder son of the late Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani and the brother of Anil Ambani. In 2014, he was ranked 36 on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people[4] and in 2010, he was included in Forbes' list of "68 people who matter most".[11] As of 2013, he is India's richest man and second-richest man in Asia.[4] As of 2016 Ambani has consistently held the title of India's richest person on the Forbes list for ten years.[12][13] Through Reliance, he also owns the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians. In 2012, Forbes named him one of the richest sports owners in the world.[14][15] He resides at the Antilia Building, one of the world's most expensive private residences. Its value is close to 1 billion dollars.[16][17] As of 2015, Ambani ranked fifth among India's philanthropists, according to China’s Hurun Research Institute.[18]

He has served on the board of directors of Bank of America Corporation and the international advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was the chairman of the board of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, which is one of the leading business schools in India.

Early life

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 19 April 1957 to Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani. He has a younger brother, Anil Ambani, and two sisters, Dipti Salgaoncar and Nina Kothari. The Ambani family lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai until the 1970s.[19] Dhirubhai later purchased a 14-floor apartment block called 'Sea Wind' in Colaba, where, until recently, Mukesh and Anil lived with their families on different floors.[20]

He attended the Hill Grange High School at Peddar Road, Mumbai, along with his brother and where Anand Jain, his close associate, was his classmate.[21] He received his BE degree in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga.[22] Mukesh later enrolled for an MBA at Stanford University but discontinued the program to help his father build Reliance, which at the time was still a small but fast growing enterprise.[23]

Business career

In 1980, the Indian government under Indira Gandhi opened PFY (polyester filament yarn) manufacturing to the private sector. Dhirubhai Ambani applied for a license to set up a PFY manufacturing plant. In spite of stiff competition from Tatas, Birlas and 43 others, Dhirubhai was awarded the licence.[24] To help him build the PFY plant, Dhirubhai pulled his eldest son Mukesh out of Stanford where he was studying for his MBA. Mukesh Ambani, then discontinued the program to help his father and initiated Reliance's backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals, beginning in 1981.[6]

Mukesh Ambani set up Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited), which was focused on information and communications technology initiatives.[25]

Ambani directed and led the creation of the world's largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, India, which had the capacity to produce 660,000 barrels per day (33 million tonnes per year) in 2010, integrated with petrochemicals, power generation, port and related infrastructure.[26]

In December 2013 Ambani announced, at the Progressive Punjab Summit in Mohali, the possibility of a "collaborative venture" with Bharti Airtel in setting up digital infrastructure for the 4G network in India.[27]

In February 2014, an FIR has been filed against Mukesh Ambani for alleged irregularities in the pricing of natural gas from K G Basin.[28] Arvind Kejriwal, who had a short stint as Delhi's chief minister and had ordered the FIR against has accused various political parties of being silent on the gas price issue.[29] Kejriwal has asked both Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi to clear their stand on the gas pricing issue.[30][31] Kejriwal has alleged that the Centre inflated the price of gas to eight dollars a unit though Mukesh Ambani's company spends only one dollar to produce a unit, which meant a loss of Rs. 540 billion to the country annually.[32][33]

On 18 June 2014, Mukesh Ambani, addressing the 40th AGM of Reliance Industries, said it will invest Rs 1.8 trillion (short scale) across businesses in the next three years and launch 4G broadband services in 2015.[34]

In February 2016, Mukesh Ambani-led Jio launched its own 4G smartphone brand named LYF.[35] In June 2016, it was India's third-largest-selling mobile phone brand.[36]

Board memberships

Awards and honors

Year of Award or Honor Name of Award or Honor Awarding Organization
2000 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year[38] Ernst & Young India
2010 Global Vision Award at The Awards Dinner[39] Asia Society
2010 Business Leader of the Year[40] NDTV India
2010 Businessman of the Year[41] Financial Chronicle
2010 School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean's Medal[42] University of Pennsylvania
2010 ranked 5th-best performing global CEO[43] Harvard Business Review
2010 Global Leadership Award[44] Business Council for International Understanding
2010 Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Science)[45] M. S. University of Baroda
2013 Millennium Business Leader of the Decade at Indian Affairs India Leadership Conclave Awards 2013)[46] India Leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards
2016 Foreign member, U. S. National Academy of Engineering[47][48] National Academy of Engineering
2016 Othmer Gold Medal[49][50] Chemical Heritage Foundation

Personal life

Mukesh is married to Nita Ambani and has two sons, Anant and Akash, and a daughter, Isha.[51] They live in a private 27-storey building in Mumbai named Antilia valued at US$1 billion and it is said to be one of the most expensive homes ever built.[16][17]

During the fiscal year ending 31 March 2012, Mukesh, it was reported, decided to forgo nearly Rs 240 million from his annual pay as chief of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). He elected to do this even as RIL's total remuneration packages to its top management personnel increased during that fiscal year. This move kept his salary capped at Rs 150 million for the fourth year in a row.[52]

See also

References

  1. Nolan, Jeannette. "Mukesh Ambani". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  2. "The Rediff Business Interview/ Mukesh Ambani". Rediff.com. 17 June 1998. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  3. 'Always invest in businesses of the future and in talent'. Rediff.com. 17 January 2007
  4. 1 2 3 "Mukesh Ambani". Forbes. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  5. "NY Times pics on Mukesh Ambani". The New York Times. India. 15 June 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Mukesh Ambani :: RIL :: Reliance Group of Industries". RIL.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  7. "FORTUNE Global 500 2011: Countries". CNN. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  8. "Market Capitalization". Indian stock markets:Companies by Market Capitalization. Rediff.com.
  9. Chu, Patrick; Ismail, Netty (5 March 2012). "Mukesh Ambani Backed by India Power Holdings Proves Asia's Top Billionaire". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 August 2013. Year 2012.
  10. "Ambani tops retailer list, too". Business Standard. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  11. "Sonia Gandhi, Tata in Forbes' most powerful people list". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 4 November 2010.
  12. "Bill Gates richest man in world, Mukesh Ambani at 36th: Forbes". The Economic Times. March 2, 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  13. "Mukesh Ambani is India's Richest on Forbes List". Forbes. Sep 23, 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  14. Van Riper, Tom. "Mukesh Ambani in photos". Forbes. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  15. "Mumbai Indians owner Mukesh Ambani among richest sport owners". Cricic.com. 20 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  16. 1 2 Magnier, Mark (24 October 2010). "Mumbai billionaire's home boasts 27 floors, ocean and slum views". Los Angeles Times.
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  18. Balachandran, Manu (5 January 2015). "India's biggest philanthropist is seven times more generous than the next". Quartz India. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
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  20. Yardley, Jim (28 October 2010). "Soaring Above India's Poverty, a 27-Story Home". The New York Times.
  21. Anand Jain: A bone of contention between the Ambani brothers. India Today. 17 January 2005
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  27. "Mukesh Ambani hints at venture between Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel". The Indian Express. 9 December 2013.
  28. "Arvind Kejriwal rakes up K G Basin gas pricing, orders FIRs against Moily, Deora, Mukesh Ambani". The Indian Express. 11 February 2014.
  29. Nair, Anisha (23 February 2014). "Arvind Kejriwal calls BJP, Congress puppets of Mukesh Ambani". news.oneindia.in.
  30. "Arvind Kejriwal's letter to Mukesh Ambani on gas pricing".
  31. Ghosh, Deepshikha (21 February 2014). "Clear your stand on Mukesh Ambani: Arvind Kejriwal tells Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi".
  32. "Arvind Kejriwal fires on all cylinders, now writes to Rahul Gandhi over gas prices involving Mukesh Ambani". India Today. 24 February 2014.
  33. "Arvind Kejriwal asks Narendra Modi to come clean on gas pricing". DNA India. 21 February 2014.
  34. "Reliance 4G services to be launched in 2015: Mukesh Ambani". ABP Live. 18 June 2014.
  35. Gloria Singh, Surbhi (May 14, 2016). "Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm's LYF mobile: A whopping $1 billion brand?". The Financial Express. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  36. Agarwal, Sapna; Pathak, Kalpana (June 29, 2016). "How Reliance Jio's LYF became India's third largest selling phone brand". Livemint. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
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  38. "Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award". Retrieved 10 June 2013.
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  40. Mulgund, Shreyas. "Winners of the NDTV Business Leadership Awards". Winners of the NDTV Business Leadership Awards. NDTV Convergence Limited. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
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  45. "M.S. University Confers Degree of Doctor of Science Honoris Causa To Mukesh Ambani". Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  46. "Priyanka Chopra, Manish Malhotra, Dr. Mukesh Batra, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Dr. Laud, Dr. Mukesh Hariawala, Dilip Surana Among Others to Receive Prestigious India Leadership Conclave Awards 2013".
  47. "Four Indian American Engineers Among Newly Elected NAE Members". India West. Feb 9, 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  48. "Mr. Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
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  50. "Othmer Gold Medal". Chemical Heritage Foundation. December 1, 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
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