Mukesh
Ambani
Mukesh
Ambani is the son
of
Dhirubhai Ambani, the late patriarch of the Reliance Empire. Dhirubhai
Ambani
established his huge business house, realizing the tale of rags to
riches, and
passed on the company to his able sons, Mukesh and Anil. The two
brothers were
initially together. But they couldn't get along and in 2005 their
mother
brokered a peace settlement, breaking up the family’s assets. At
present,
Mukesh Ambani is the Chairman, Managing director and the largest
shareholder of
Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector enterprise
and a Fortune
500 company. Forbes (2009) list of the world’s billionaires named
him the
richest man in India and the 7th richest man in the world, having a net
worth
of $19.5 Billion. Mukesh also owns the Indian Premier League (IPL)
cricket
team, Mumbai Indians. He brought the team for $111.9 million.
Mukesh
Dhirubhai Ambani
was
born on April 19, 1957 at Mumbai. Being the first child, he received
all the
love and attention of his parents. His father was keen on providing an
all-round development to his four children. Once, he placed an
advertisement in
the newspaper for a teacher, but specified that the person should not
only
concentrate on the academic syllabus, he would also have to impart
general
knowledge. He interviewed several persons and selected Mahendrabhai
Vyas, who
taught at the New Era School. Mahendrabhai would come every evening to
the
Ambanis' house and stay with the children till 7 pm. The children would
study,
play, watch matches, chat and laugh, and learn the values of life from
their
revered teacher.
Mukesh's yet another
companion
was his father, who shared with him his passion for business and
entrepreneurship. Even when Mukesh was in high school, he used to spend
long hours
at his father's office on weekends. After completing his schooling at
Abaay
Morischa School in Mumbai, Mukesh completed his Bachelor of Chemical
Engineering from the University of Bombay. Now he decided to pursue a
MBA from
Stanford University USA.
While
he was at Stanford,
his
father's company, Reliance, got a license to make polyester. It was
early 80s,
and during that time the World Bank's Young Professional's Programme
(YPP) was
quite famous. Mukesh was keen to pursue the prestigious YPP after
completing
his MBA. All this would take him a year and a half, after which he
would return
to India, to work on the polyester plant. But his father was to start
work on
the polyester plant right away. So, Mukesh decided to return to India
immediately.
So, in
1981, Mukesh
joined
Reliance. This was a period when Reliance was at the threshold of
becoming a
large corporation. Mukesh heeded his father's word, and immersed
himself
completely in the running of the business. He got involved in
Reliance’s initiative
of manufacturing polyester fibers and petrochemicals. When he started
work on
setting up a polyester filament yarn project, his Chemical Engineering
and
business school background helped him in organising the work and
keeping the
workers motivated.
Mukesh
was instrumental in
building more than 60 world-class manufacturing facilities. This
significant
contribution from Mukesh raised Reliance's manufacturing capacities
from less
than a million tonnes to twelve million tonnes per year. Mukesh
directed and
led the creation of the world's largest grassroots petroleum refinery
at
Jamnagar, in the State of Gujarat, India. The refinery has a capacity
of 33
million tonnes per year.
Mukesh
made his father's
dream
come true when he launched Reliance Infocom Limited in 2002. It grew as
the
largest and most complex information and communications technology
initiative
in the world. Reliance Infocom has been renamed as Reliance
Communications
Limited, and is now under Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Under
Mukesh’s guidance
and leadership, Reliance has entered retail business through its wholly
owned
subsidiary - Reliance Retail. Reliance Retail has launched a new
chain
called Delight stores, and has also signed a letter of intent with NOVA
Chemicals to make energy efficient structures for Reliance Retail.
Mukesh's greatest accolade
came
in 2004 when he was ranked 13th in Asia's Power 25 list of The Most
Powerful
People in Business, published by the Fortune magazine. The Asia
Society,
Washington D.C., USA, conferred on him the Asia Society Leadership
Award in May
2004. He was chosen Telecom Man of the year 2004 by Voice and Data
magazine. In
the same year, Mukesh was also conferred the World Communication Award
for the
Most Influential Person in Telecommunications. He was ranked 42nd among
the
World's Most Respected Business Leaders, and second among the four
Indian CEOs
featured in a survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and published
in
Financial Times, London, in November 2004.
In
2007, Mukesh was chosen
the
Businessman of the Year by a public poll in India conducted by NDTV.
The same
year, he was also conferred the United States-India Business Council
(USIBC)
leadership award for "Global Vision". Mukesh was recorded as the
first Trillionaire in India, in June 2007. Gujarat Chief Minister,
Narendra
Modi, awarded him the Chitralekha Person of the Year Award in 2007.
Mukesh
Ambani is also
known for
his political inclination and achievements. He was the first Indian to
meet
with Barak Obama after Obama became president of the United States.
Mukesh
Ambani is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and
Industry,
Government of India, and the Board of Governors of the National Council
of
Applied Economic Research, New Delhi. He is a member of the Indo-US
CEOs Forum,
the International Advisory Board of Citigroup, International Advisory
Board of
the National Board of Kuwait and McKinsey Advisory Council.
Besides
these
responsibilities,
Mukesh Ambani also carries out his duties in the educational field. He
is the
Chairman, Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management,
Bangalore,
and a member of the Advisory Council of the Indian Institute of
Technology,
Mumbai. He is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Graduate
School of
Business of the Stanford University.
At
home, Mukesh Ambani is a complete family man,
spending quality time with his wife, Nita Ambani, and two children,
Akash and
Isha. Nita Ambani runs the Dhirubhai Ambani International School and
the
Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, both funded by the Dhirubhai Ambani
Foundation, a
Mumbai-based charity. At present, Ahash and Isha are studying in USA.
Mukesh
Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Petroleum Limited and Reliance Retail
Limited,
and a Director of Reliance Europe Limited, is rightly considered by
many
experts as Dhirubhai's Protégé.