Summary

Mukesh Ambani was born on April 19,1957 in Aden, Yemen. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, a multinational conglomerate with business across sectors such as petrochemicals, energy, textiles, retail and telecommunications. He is Asia’s wealthiest person with a net worth of $94.7 billion.

Mukesh Ambani earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Mumbai and then went on to pursue a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. However, he left the programme in 1981 to join the family business, where he worked to diversify the company, venturing into a vast array of sectors.

Personal Information

Achievements

• Commissioned the globe’s largest petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
• Developed Reliance Retail, a retail network comprising of both physical and online stores.
• Became the owner of Mumbai Indians, an Indian Premier League cricket team.
• Established Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of RIL dedicated to telecommunications and e-commerce.
• Entered into an agreement with Indian media company Viacom 18 and Disney to create a joint venture, forming one of India’s leading media companies.

Major Events Timeline

• 2006: Co-chaired the Indian Economic Summit of World Economic Forum (WEF), an international organisation which brings together some of the world’s prominent business leaders, politicians, policymakers, scholars, philanthropists, trade unionists and representative of non-governmental organisations to discuss global issues.
• 2010: He was elected as a member of The Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.
• 2023 & 2024: He was ranked number one among Indian CEOs and number two globally in the Brand Guardianship Index by Brand Finance.

Challenges & Controversies

One of the most publicised controversies in Mukesh Ambani’s career was his bitter feud with his brother Anil Ambani, following their father Dhirubhai Ambani’s death in 2002.

In 2007, Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries faced allegations of insider trading. The SEBI accused Reliance of manipulating the stock market to gain fair advantage. The case revolved around the sale of shares by Reliance Petroleum (RPL) in the open market. In 2017, SEBI imposed a hefty fine on RIL and banned the company and 12 of its senior officials from trading in equity derivatives for a year.

In 2016, Reliance Jio launched its 4G LTE network offering free voice calls, messaging services and data for the first six months. The entry of Jio revolutionised the Indian telecommunications industry forcing competitors to rethink their marketing strategies. Critics accused Reliance of predatory pricing and using its deep pockets to revolutionise the market.

Reliance Industries operations, particularly in the petrochemical and refining sectors, have also faced criticism over environmental concerns. Environment activists have accused RIL of contributing to pollution and ecological degradation through its industrial activities.