Reliance Group

Reliance Group is India's largest private sector enterprise with revenues in

excess of US$ 25 billion. The group has diversified business interests in
areas such as petrochemicals, textiles and retail. Reliance Group's flagship
company, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), is a Fortune Global 500
company and is the largest private sector company in India.

The Reliance Group was founded by the legendary Dhirubhai H. Ambani.

In 1975, the company expanded into textiles. Dhirubhai Ambani introduced
equity cult in India when Reliance went public with IPO in 1977. Since the
launch of its IPO RIL has expanded rapidly and integrated backwards into
other industry sectors, most notably the production of petrochemicals and
the refining of crude oil. Dhirubhai led the evolution as a global leader in the
materials and energy value chain businesses. Today, Reliance Group's
activities range from exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum
refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fiber intermediates,
plastics and chemicals) to textiles and retail. Reliance enjoys global
leadership in its businesses. It is the largest polyester yarn and fibre
producer in the world and among the top five to ten producers in the world
in major petrochemical products. Presently, Reliance Group has more than
25,000 employees on its rolls and exports products in excess of US$ 15
billion to more than 100 countries in the world.

Business Interests of Reliance:

Petroleum Exploration and Production: Petroleum Exploration and

Production is a major growth area for Reliance and Reliance intends to
become a global energy major. RIL is the largest Oil & Gas acreage holder
among the Private sector companies in India with 34 domestic exploration
blocks covering an area of about 331,000 sq. km. It is also India's first
private sector company in the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector to
have discovered large gas reserves. RIL also has interests in one
exploration block each in Yemen and Oman.
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Petroleum Refining and Marketing: Reliance operates the third largest

refinery in the world at any single location, with a capacity of 30 million tons
per year of crude throughput, at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Reliance is in the
process of doubling the petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, which will make it
the largest petroleum refinery in the world. The products rolled out from
Reliance refinery include: LPG, Propylene, Naptha, Reformate, Gasoline,
TAME, Jet / Aviation Turbine Fuel / Superior Kerosene Oil, High Speed
Diesel, Sulphur, and Petroleum Coke.

Pretrochemicals: Reliance deals in following petrochemical products:

• Polymer: Reliance's polymer business is integrated with its cracker

facility at Hazira, as well as its refinery at Jamnagar, ensuring feedstock
availability at all times. The company operates world-scale plants for
Polyolefins and PVC with state-of-art technologies from global licensors
like Novacor, Geon and Union Carbide.
• Polyester: Reliance is the largest producer of polyester fibre and
yarn in the world, with a capacity of 2,000 KTA.
• Polyester Intermediates: Reliance is the world's 3rd largest
producer of Paraxylene (PX), 6th largest producer of Purified Terephthalic
Acid (PTA) and 5th largest producer of Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG).

Textiles: Reliance textile products are sold under the brand names of Only
Vimal, Harmony, Reance, RueRel and V2 (pre-cut, pre-packed products).
Reliance's Naroda Textile Complex, one of India's largest and modern
textile complexes, produces about 25 million metres of fabric both for
domestic and international markets.

Retail: Reliance has recently entered the retail market and is aggressively
working on introducing a pan-India network of retail outlets in multiple
formats.

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Major Subsidiaries & Associates of Reliance

Major Subsidiaries:

• Reliance Petroleum Limited

• Reliance Netherlands BV (including Trevira)
• Reliance Retail Limited
• Ranger Farms Private Limited
• Retail Concepts and Services Private Limited
• Reliance Retail Insurance Broking Limited
• Reliance Dairy Foods Limited
• Reliance Retail Finance Limited
• RESQ Limited
• Reliance digital Retail Limited
• Reliance Service Solutions Limited
• Reliance Jamnagar Infrastructure Limited
• Reliance Haryana SEZ Limited
• Reliance Industrial Investment & Holdings Limited
• Reliance Ventures Limited
• Reliance Strategic Investments Limited
• Reliance Exploration & Production - DMCC
• Reliance Industries (Middle East) DMCC
• Reliance Global Management Services (P) Limited.

Major Associates:

• Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited

• Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited
• Reliance Europe Limited

Major Achievements of Reliance:

• The world's largest producer of Polyester Fibre and Yarn

• 4th largest producer of Paraxylene (PX)
• 5th largest producer of Purified Terepthalic Acid (PTA)

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• 7th largest producer of Polypropylene (PP)

• Reliance's refinery at Jamnagar is the third largest refinery at a single
location in the world.
• Reliance pioneered the first ever Euro Convertible Bond issue by an
Indian company.
• Reliance is the first private sector company in India to be rated by
international credit rating agencies.
• First corporate in Asia to issue 50 and 100 years bond in US debt
market.
• First private sector company in India to record a net profit of US
dollar of over 1 billion.
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Mukesh Ambani
Born: April19, 1957

Achievement: Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries

Limited, India's largest private sector company; Chosen as ET Business
Leader of the Year 2006; Ranked 42nd among the World's Most Respected
Business Leaders and second among the four Indian CEOs featured in a
survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and published in Financial
Times, London, November,2004.

Mukesh Ambani is the face of new emerging India. He is the Chairman and
Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India's largest private
sector company.

Mukesh Ambani was born on April 19, 1957 in Mumbai. His father
Dhirubhai Ambani was then a small businessman who later on rose
to become one of the legends of Indian industry. Mukesh Ambani did his
Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from University of Bombay and Masters
in Business Administration from Stanford University, USA.
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Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and was the brain behind
Reliance's backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and
further into petrochemicals. During the process of backward integration,
Mukesh Ambani led the creation of 51 new, world-class manufacturing
facilities involving diverse technologies that raised Reliance's
manufacturing capacities manifold.

World's largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar is the brainchild

of Mukesh Ambani. He was also the incharge of Dhirubhai's dream project
Reliance Infocomm. But after the split in the Reliance Empire, Reliance
Infocomm went to his brother Anil Ambani. Mukesh Ambani is now planning
to enter retail sector in a big way. He has plans to establish big retail stores
all over the country. Recently, he also entered into an agreement with
Haryana Government to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with an
investment running into thousands of crores.

Mukesh Ambani has many achievements and honours to his name.

Mukesh Ambani was chosen as the ET Business leader of the Year 2006.
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 PricewaterhouseCoopers and published in Financial Times,
London, November 2004. He was conferred the World Communication
Award for the Most Influential Person in Telecommunications in 2004 by
Total Telecom, October, 2004. Mukesh Ambani was also conferred the
Asia Society Leadership Award by the Asia Society, Washington D.C.,
USA,
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Reliance ADAG

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG) ranks among

India's top three three private sector business houses. The group has a
market capitalization of US$ 22 billion, net assets in excess of US$ 7
billion, and net worth to the tune of US$ 6 billion. Reliance Anil Dhirubhai
Ambani Group has a customer base of over 50 million, the largest in India,
and a shareholder base of over 8 million, among the largest in the world. R-
ADAG has a business presence that is spread over 4,500 towns and
300,000 villages in India, and 5 continents across the world.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group came into existence when the
business empire of the Reliance Group founded by Dhirubhai Ambani was
split between his two sons, Mukesh and Anil. Mukesh Ambani, the elder
brother, retained Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the flagship company of
the Reliance Group. The part of the empire that was inherited by the
younger brother Anil Ambani was christened as Reliance Anil Dhirubhai
Ambani Group. Hence, one can say that the founder of Reliance ADAG
was Dhrubhai Ambani. The interests of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani
span communications, financial services, generation, transmission and
distribution of power, infrastructure and entertainment.

Companies of Reliance ADAG

Reliance Communications Limited: Reliance Communications Limited is

the flagship company of the Reliance - ADA Group. The company is the
culmination of Dhirubhai's dream of bringing about a digital revolution that
will provide every Indian with affordable means of communication and a
ready access to information. Reliance Communications Limited started
operations in 1999 and has over
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20 million subscribers today. It offers a complete range of integrated

telecom services such as mobile and fixed line telephony, broadband,
national and international long distance services, data services and a wide
range of value added services.

Reliance Capital: Reliance Capital is one of India's leading private sector

financial services companies. Reliance Capital deals in asset management
and mutual funds, life and general insurance, private equity and proprietary
investments, stock broking and other activities in financial services.

Reliance Energy Limited: Reliance Energy Limited is a fully integrated

utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.
The company distributes more than 21 billion units of electricity to over 25
million consumers in Mumbai, Delhi, Orissa and Goa. Reliance Energy
Limited currently generates 941 MW of electricity, through its power
stations located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and
Goa. It is currently pursuing a number of gas, coal, wind and hydro-based
power generation projects in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh and Uttaranchal with total capacity of over 12,500 MW.

Reliance Media & Entertainment: Reliance Media & Entertainment has

interest in Movies, Music, Sports, Gaming, Internet & mobile portals, Digital
cinema, IPTV, DTH and Mobile TV. In 2005, Reliance ADA Group acquired
Adlabs Films Limited, one of the largest entertainment companies in India,
which has interests in film processing, production, exhibition & digital
cinema. Reliance Entertainment has also forayed into the FM Radio
business through BIG 92.7 FM.

Reliance Health: Reliance Health aims at providing integrated health

services and plans to venture into diversified fields like Insurance
Administration, Health care Delivery and Integrated Health, Health
Informatics and Information Management and Consumer Health.

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 Dhirubhai Ambani

Born: December 28, 1932

Died: July 6, 2002

Achievements: Dhiru Bhai Ambani built India's largest private sector

company. Created an equity cult in the Indian capital market. Reliance is
the first Indian company to feature in Forbes 500 list

Dhirubhai Ambani was the most enterprising Indian entrepreneur. His life
journey is reminiscent of the rags to riches story. He is remembered as the
one who rewrote Indian corporate history and built a truly global corporate
group.

Dhirubhai Ambani alias Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani was born on December

28, 1932, at Chorwad, Gujarat, into a Modh family. His father was a school
teacher. Dhirubhai Ambani started his entrepreneurial career by selling
"bhajias" to pilgrims in Mount Girnar over the weekends.

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After doing his matriculation at the age of 16, Dhirubhai moved to Aden,
Yemen. He worked there as a gas-station attendant, and as a clerk in an oil
company. He returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and set up a textile
trading company.
Assisted by his two sons, Mukesh and Anil, Dhiru Bhai Ambani built India's
largest private sector company, Reliance India Limited, from a scratch.
Over time his business has diversified into a core specialisation in
petrochemicals with additional interests in telecommunications, information
technology, energy, power, retail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital
markets, and logistics.

Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with shaping India's equity culture, attracting

millions of retail investors in a market till then dominated by financial
institutions. Dhirubhai revolutionised capital markets. From nothing, he
generated billions of rupees in wealth for those who put their trust in his
companies. His efforts helped create an 'equity cult' in the Indian capital
market. With innovative instruments like the convertible debenture,
Reliance quickly became a favorite of the stock market in the 1980s.

In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company to raise money in global
markets, its high credit-taking in international markets limited only by India's
sovereign rating. Reliance also became the first Indian company to feature
in Forbes 500 list.

Dhirubhai Ambani was named the Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century
by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
A poll conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted him "greatest creator
of wealth in the century".

Dhirubhai Ambani died on July 6, 2002, at Mumbai.

History of Ambani’s Family
Dhirubhai Ambani

Born December 28, 1932

Died July 6, 2002 (aged 69)

Nationality Indian

Occupation Business Magnate; Chairman

Net worth ▲ US$6.10 billion

Religion Hinduism

Spouse Kokilaben Ambani

Children Mukesh Ambani

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, (Gujarati) also known as Dhirubhai, 28
December 1932, - 6 July 2002, was an Indian rags-to-riches business
tycoon who founded Reliance Industries in Mumbai with his cousin. Ambani
took his company (Reliance) public in 1977, and by 2007 the combined
fortune of the family (sons Anil and Mukesh) was 60 billion dollars, making
the Ambani's the second richest family in the world, next to the Walton
family. Dhirubhai has been one among the select Forbes billionaires and
has also figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia.
Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the
1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices.
After making modest profits, he moved into textiles and opened his mill
near Ahmedabad. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958. After that
it was a saga of expansions and successes.
Reliance's story as a company has been a 'bitter-sweet' saga in India.
While on one hand it remains one the biggest Indian conglomerates but on
the other hand it is also a company known to evade taxes and being
intransparent.It has presence in various sectors like petrochemicals,
textiles and is involved in the production of crude oil and gas, to polyester
and polymer products. The companies refinery at Jamnagar accounts for
over 25% of India's total refining capacity and their plant at Hazira is the
biggest chemical complex in India. The company has further diversified into
Telecom, Insurance and Internet Businesses, the Power Sector and so on.
Now the Reliance group with over 85,000 employees provides almost 5%
of the Central Government's total revenue.
In 1986 after a heart attack he handed over his empire to his two sons Anil
and Mukesh. His sons have helped Reliance to grow in a more globalized
world after 1991.
Early life
Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 28 December 1932 at Kukaswada near
Chorwad in the then princely states of Junagadh. (now the state
of Gujarat, India) to Hirachand Gordhandhas Ambani and Jamnaben in a
Gujarati family of modest means. Hirachand Gordhandhas Ambani was a
village school teacher with little income. Hirachand and Jamanaben had
two daughters - Trilochanaben and Jasuben and three sons - Ramnikbhai,
Dhirubhai and Natubhai. Dhirubhai was the second son.[1] Dhirubhai was
precocious and highly intelligent. He was also highly impatient of the
oppressive grinding mill of the school classroom. He chose work which
used his physical ability to the maximum rather than cramming school
lessons. When Jamnaben once asked Dhirubhai and Ramnikbhai to help
his father by earning money, he angrily replied "Why do you keep
screaming for money? I will make heaps of money one day". During
weekends, he began setting up onion/potato fries stall at village fairs and
made extra money which he gave to his mother.
Life in Aden
When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked with A.
Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300 (Present Day $6.49). Two years later,
A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products, and Dhirubhai
was promoted to manage the company’s filling station at the port of Aden.
He was married to Kokilaben and had 2 sons, Mukesh, Anil and two
daughters , Nina Kothari, Deepti Salgaonkar. He also worked in Dubai for
some time during his early years.
During those days of him, the Yemini Rial was made of pure silver coins
and was in much demand at the London Bullion Exchange. Young
Dhirubhai bought the Rials, melted them into pure silver and sold it to the
bullion traders in London. During the latter part of his life, while talking to
reporters, it is believed that he said “The margins were small but it was
money for jam. After three months, it was stopped. But I made a few lakhs.
In short, I was a manipulator. A very good manipulator. But I don’t believe
in not taking opportunities.
Majin Commercial Corporation
Ten years later, Dhirubhai Ambani returned to India and started "Majin" in
partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who used to be
with him in Aden, Yemen. Majin was to import polyester yarn and export
spices to Yemen. The first office of the Reliance Commercial
Corporation was set up at the Narsinatha Street in Masjid Bunder. It was
350 sq ft (33 m2). room with a telephone, one table and three chairs.
Initially, they had two assistants to help them with their business. During
this period, Dhirubhai and his family used to stay in a one bedroom
apartment at the Jaihind Estate in Bhuleshwar,[(Mumbai)]. In 1965,
Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and
Dhirubhai started on his own. It is believed that both had
different temperaments and a different take on how to conduct business.
While Mr. Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn
inventories, Dhirubhai was a known risk taker and he believed in building
inventories, anticipating a price rise, and making profits.[4] In 1968, he
moved to an upmarket apartment at Altamount Road in South Mumbai.
Ambani's net worth was estimated at about Rs.10 lakh by late 1970s
Asia Times quotes. "His people skills were legendary. A former secretary
reveals: "He was very helpful. He followed an 'open-door' policy.
Employees could walk into his cabin and discuss their problems with him."
The chairman had a special way of dealing with different groups of people,
be they employees, shareholders, journalists or government officials.
Ambani's competitors allege that he bought off officials and had legislation
re-written to suit him. They recall his earlier days and how he picked up the
art of profiteering from the then-Byzantine system of controls of Indian
officialdom. He exported spices, often at a loss, and used replenishment
licenses to import rayon. Later, when rayon started to be manufactured in
India, he exported rayon, again at a loss, and imported nylon. Ambani was
always a step ahead of the competitors. With the imported items being
heavily in demand, his profit margins were rarely under 300 percent."
Reliance Textiles
Sensing a good opportunity in the textile business, Dhirubhai started his
first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1977. Textiles were
manufactured using polyester fibre yarn. Dhirubhai started the
brand "Vimal", which was named after his elder brother Ramaniklal
Ambani's son, Vimal Ambani. Extensive marketing of the brand "Vimal" in
the interiors of India made it a household name. Franchise retail outlets
were started and they used to sell "only Vimal" brand of textiles. In the year
1975, a Technical team from the World Bankvisited the Reliance Textiles'
Manufacturing unit. This unit has the rare distinction of being certified
as "excellent even by developed country standards" during that period.
Initial public offering
Dhirubhai Ambani is awarded with starting the equity cult in India. More
than 58,000 investors from various parts of India subscribed to
Reliance's IPO in 1977. Dhiru bhai was able to convince large number of
small investors from rural Gujarat that being shareholders of his company
would be profitable.
Reliance Industries was the first private sector company whose Annual
General Meetings were held in stadiums. In 1986, The Annual General
Meeting of Reliance Industries number of first-time retail investors to invest
in Reliance. Ambani's net worth was estimated at about Rs.1 billion by
early 1980s.
Dhirubhai's control over stock exchange
In 1982, Reliance Industries came up against a rights issue regarding partly
convertible debentures. It was rumored that company was making all
efforts to ensure that their stock prices did not slide an inch. Sensing an
opportunity, a bear cartel which was a group of stock brokers
from Calcutta started to short sell the shares of Reliance. To counter this, a
group of stock brokers till recently referred to as "Friends of Reliance"
started to buy the short sold shares of Reliance Industries on the Bombay
Stock Exchange.
The Bear Cartel was acting on the belief that the Bulls would be short of
cash to complete the transactions and would be ready for settlement under
the "Badla" trading system operative in the Bombay Stock Exchange. The
bulls kept on buying and a price of Rs. 152 per share was maintained till
the day of settlement. On the day of settlement, the Bear Cartel was taken
aback when the Bulls demanded a physical delivery of shares. To complete
the transaction, the much needed cash was provided to the stock brokers
who had bought shares of Reliance, by none other than Dhirubhai Ambani.
In the case of non-settlement, the Bulls demanded an "Unbadla" (a
penalty sum) of Rs. 35 per share. With this, the demand increased and the
shares of Reliance shot above 180 rupees in minutes. The settlement
caused an enormous uproar in the market.
To find a solution to this situation, the Bombay Stock Exchange was closed
for three business days. Authorities from the Bombay Stock
Exchange (BSE) intervened in the matter and brought down the "Unbadla"
rate to Rs. 2 with a stipulation that the Bear Cartel had to deliver the shares
within the next few days. The Bear Cartel bought shares of Reliance from
the market at higher price levels and it was also learnt that Dhirubhai
Ambani himself supplied those shares to the Bear Cartel and earned a
healthy profit out of The Bear Cartel's adventure.
After this incident, many questions were raised by his detractors and the
press. Not many people were able to understand as to how a yarn trader till
a few years ago was able to get in such a huge amount of cash flow during
a crisis period. The answer to this was provided by the then finance
minister, Pranab Mukherjee in the parliament. He informed the house that a
Non-Resident Indian had invested up to Rs. 22 Crore in Reliance during
1982-83. These investments were routed through many companies like
Crocodile, Lota and Fiasco. These companies were primarily registered
in Isle of Man. The interesting factor was that all the promoters or owners of
these companies had a common surname Shah. An investigation by the
Reserve Bank of India in the incident did not find any unethical or illegal
acts or transactions committed by Reliance or its promoters.
Diversification
In 1982 Ambani began the process of backward integration, setting up a
plant to manufacture polyester filament yarn. He subsequently diversified
into chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, power. The company as a whole
was described by the BBC as "a business empire with an estimated annual
turnover of $12bn, and an 85,000-strong workforce". The final phase of
Reliance’s diversification occurred in the 1990s when the company turned
aggressively towards petrochemicals and telecommunications.
Criticism
He was accused of acting unethically, having manipulated government
policies to suit his own needs, and has been known to be a king-maker in
government elections . Although most media sources tend to speak out
about business-politics nexus, the Ambani house has always enjoyed more
protection and shelter from the media storms that sweep across the
country.
Tussle with Nusli Wadia
Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing was, at one point in time, the biggest
competitor of Dhirubhai and Reliance Industries. Both Nusli Wadia and
Dhirubhai were known for their influence in the political circles and their
ability to get the most difficult licenses approved during the times of pre-
liberalized economy.
During the Janata Party rule between 1977–1979, Nusli Wadia obtained
the license to build a 60,000 tonnes per annum Di-methyl terephthalate
(DMT) plant. Before the letter of intent was converted into a licence, many
hurdles came in the way. Finally, in 1981, Nusli Wadia was granted the
license for plant. This incident acted as a catalyst between the two parties
and the competition took an ugly turn.
The Indian Express Articles
At one point in time, Ramnath Goenka was a friend of Dhirubhai Ambani.
Ramnath Goenka was also considered to be close to Nusli Wadia. On
many occasions, Ramnath Goenka tried to intervene between the two
warring factions and bring an end to the enmity. Goenka and Ambani
became rivals mainly because Ambani's corrupt business practices and his
illegal actions. Later on, Ramnath Goenka chose to support Nusli Wadia.
As days passed by, The Indian Express, a broadsheet daily published by
him, carried a series of articles against Reliance Industries and Dhirubhai in
which they claimed that Dhirubhai was using unfair trade practices to
maximise the profits. Ramnath Goenka did not use his staff at the Indian
Express to investigate the case but assigned his close confidant, advisor
and chartered accountant S. Gurumurthy for this task. Apart from S.
Gurumurthy, another journalist Maneck Davar who was not on the rolls of
Indian Express started contributing stories. Jamnadas Moorjani, a
businessman opposed to the Ambanis was also a part of this campaign.
Both Ambani and Goenka were equally criticized and admired by sections
of the society. People criticized Goenka that he was using a national
newspaper for the cause of a personal enmity. Critics believed that there
were many other businessman in the country who were using more unfair
and unethical practices but Goenka chose to target only Ambani and not
the others. Critics also admired Goenka for his ability to run these articles
without any help from his regular staff. Dhirubhai Ambani was also getting
more recognition and admiration, in the meantime. A section of the public
started to appreciate Dhirubhai's business sense and his ability to tame the
system according to his wishes.[12]
The end to this tussle came only after Dhirubhai Ambani suffered a stroke.
While Dhirubhai Ambani was recovering in San Diego, his sons Mukesh
Ambani and Anil Ambani managed the affairs. The Indian Express had
turned the guns against Reliance and was directly blaming the government
for not doing enough to penalize Reliance Industries. The battle between
Wadia - Goenka and the Ambanis took a new direction and became a
national crisis. Gurumurthy and another journalist, Mulgaokar consorted
with President Giani Zail Singh and ghost-wrote a hostile letter to the Prime
Minister on his behalf. The Indian Express published a draft of the
President’s letter as a scoop, not realizing that Zail Singh had made
changes to the letter before sending it to Rajiv Gandhi. Ambani had won
the battle at this point. Now, while the tussle was directly between the
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Ramnath Goenka, Ambani made a quiet
exit. The government then raided the Express guest house in Delhi’s
Sunder Nagar and found the original draft with corrections in Mulgaokar’s
handwriting. By 1988-89, Rajiv’s government retaliated with a series of
prosecutions against the Indian Express. Even then, Goenka retained his
iconic stature because, to many people, he seemed to be replaying his
heroic defiance during the Emergency regime.
In popular media
In 1998, a book published by Hamish McDonald titled "The Polyester
Prince" is also an unauthorised biography of Dhirubhai Ambani, outlining all
his political and business conquests. HarperCollins didnt sell the book in
India, because the Dirubhai threatened legal action. As of 2010,
Amazon.com listed the price book at >$900.
A film said to be inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani was released on
12 January 2007. The Hindi Film Guru, directed by ace filmmaker Mani
Ratnam, cinematography by Rajiv Menon and music
by A.R.Rahman shows the struggle of a man striving to make his mark in
the Indian business world with a fictional Shakti Group of Industries. The
film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Aishwarya Rai, R.
Madhavan and Vidya Balan. In the film, Abhishek Bachchan plays Guru
Kant Desai, a character implicitly based on Dhirubhai Ambani. The
character is known in the film as "GURUBHAI", similar to the real-life
"DHIRUBHAI." Mithun Chakraborty portrays Manikda who bears an
uncanny resemblance to the real lifeRamanath Goenka and Madhvan
portrays S. Gurumurthy, who gained national fame twenty years ago,
spearheading virulent attacks against the Reliance group in one of India's
bloodiest corporate wars ever.
In 2010, an updated version of the book went on sale in India, called
Ambani and Sons, there has been no legal action against the publisher so
far.
Awards and recognitions

 November 2000 – Conferred 'Man of the Century' award by

Chemtech Foundation and Chemical Engineering World in recognition of
his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the
chemical industry in India
 2000, 1998 and 1996 – Featured among 'Power 50 - the most
powerful people in Asia by Asiaweek magazine.
 June 1998 - Dean's Medal by The Wharton School, University
of Pennsylvania, for setting an outstanding example of leadership.
Dhirubhai Ambani has the rare distinction of being the first Indian to get
Wharton School Dean's Medal [20]
 August 2001 – Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence
for Lifetime Achievement
 Dhirubhai Ambani was named the Man of 20th Century by
the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
 A poll conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted Him "Greatest
Creator of Wealth In The Centuries". He is the true son of India'
 Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani

Born 19 April 1957 (age 53)

Aden, Colony of Aden (nowYemen)

Residence Antilia, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Nationality Indian

Education University of Mumbai (Bachelor of Chemical

Engineering)
Stanford University (MBA)

Occupation Chairman & MD of Reliance Industries

Net worth ▲US$29.0 billion (2010)

Religion Hindu

Spouse Nita Ambani

Children Akash, Anant, Isha

Relatives Anil Ambani (Brother)

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born on 19 April 1957) is an Indian business

magnate and the chairman and managing director of Reliance
Industries, the largest private sector enterprise in India, a Fortune
500 company, and one of the largest private sector conglomeratesin the
world. His personal stake in Reliance Industries is 48%.
As of July 2010, he is the richest man in Asia and the fourth richest man in
the world with a personal wealth of US$29.0 billion. On 29 October 2007, a
strong rally in the Indian stock market and the appreciation of the Indian
rupee boosted the market capitalisation of all Reliance group companies,
making him for a while the world’s richest man, with net worth climbing to
US$63.2 billion leaving Bill Gatesbehind at around $56 billion. He is
expected to regain the title of the world's richest person in 2014, according
to Forbes Magazine forecasts.
Family and early life
Antilia as seen from Altamount Road,Mumbai
Mukesh Ambani is the eldest son of Dhirubhai Ambani, the late founder of
Reliance Industries. He has a brother, Anil, and two sisters.
The Ambani family lived in a two bedroom apartment
in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai until the 1970s. Dhirubhai Ambani then purchased
a 14-floor apartment block called 'Sea Wind' in Colaba, where Anil his
family and Mukesh and his family lived on different floors.
Anil Ambani is also a billionaire and owns a competing company, Reliance
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The two brothers have had clashes over
business.
Personal life
He is married to Nita Ambani and has three children, Akash, Anant and
Isha.[ He owns the Indian Premier League team, the Mumbai Indians.
They live in a private 27 story building in Mumbai named Antilia. Costing
aprox. US$500-$700 Million, with the increasing price of land, is estimated
to be valued at over US$1 Billion to build. It is claimed to be the most
expensive home in history.
Career
He joined Reliance Industries in 1981. He initiated Reliance's backward
integration journey from textiles into polyester fibres and further into
petrochemicals, petroleum refining and going up-stream into oil and gas
exploration and production.
Ambani set up one of the largest and most complex information and
communications technology initiative in the world in the form of Reliance
Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited).
Ambani directed and led the creation of the world’s largest grassroots
petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, India, with a current capacity of 660,000
barrels per day (33 million tonnes per year) integrated with petrochemicals,
power generation, port and related infrastructure.
Honours and awards
Ambani (right) with Ratan Naval Tata and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton

 January 2010: School of Engineering and Applied Science of

the University of Pennsylvania confers him with the Dean's medal.
 Chosen the businessman of the year 2007 by a public poll in India
conducted by NDTV
 Conferred the United States-India Business Council (USIBC)
leadership award for "Global Vision" 2007 in Washington.
 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, November 2004.
 Conferred the World Communication Award for the Most Influential
Person in Telecommunications in 2004 by Total Telecom, October,
2004.
 Chosen Telecom Man of the Year 2004 by Voice and Data magazine,
September 2004.
 Ranked 13th in Asia's Power 25 list of The Most Powerful
 Awarded the "Chitralekha Person of the Year Award -- 2007" by
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
 Former Chairman of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore(IIM-
B).
 Fishing Diplomat
 Honorary Fellow of IChemE (the Institution of Chemical Engineers)
 In 2010, he was named among the most powerful people in the world
by Forbes in its this year’s list of 68 people "who matter.
He is also a member of the International Advisory Board, a globalist think
tank council on foreign relations.
 Anil Ambani

Born 4 June 1959 (age 51)

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Residence Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Alma mater University of Mumbai

University of Pennsylvania[1]

Occupation Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai

Ambani Group

Net worth ▲US$13.7 billion (2010)

Spouse Tina Munim

Children 2

Relatives Mukesh Ambani (Brother)

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian business

baron and chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the
largest private conglomerates. Anil's elder brother, Mukesh Ambani, is also
worth more than 29 billion dollars, and owns another company
called Reliance Industries. As of 2010, he is the fourth richest Indian with a
personal wealth of $13.7 billion, behind Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi
Mittal and Azim Premji.[3]
He is a member of the Board of Overseers at the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania. He is also the member of the Board of
Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur; Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad. He is a member of the Central Advisory
Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. In March 2006, he
resigned. He is also the Chairman of Board of Governors of DA-
IICT, Gandhinagar.
Career
Ambani joined Reliance, the company founded by his late father Dhirubhai
Ambani, in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and is credited with having
pioneered many financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. For
example, he led India's first forays into overseas capital markets with
international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and
bonds. He directed Reliance in its efforts to raise, since 1991, around US$2
billion from overseas financial markets; with a 100-year Yankee bond issue
in January 1997 being the high point, after which people regarded him as a
financial wizard. He along with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, has steered
the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading textiles,
petroleum, petrochemicals, power, and telecom company.
He has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his
current wife of more than 15 years. He is a close friend of movie
star Amitabh Bachchan and Subrata Roy.One of his major achievements in
the entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs, the movie production
to distribution to multiplex company that owns India's only dome theatre
and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million
with Steven Spielberg
He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, over
the supply of gas from the latter's KG basin.
He recently topped Business Sheet's "world's biggest loser" list of business
leaders who lost money in the Late 2000s recession [4], losing $32.5 billion
in 2008, which brought him out of the top ten list to number 34 in 2009.
Assassination attempt
On the evening of 22 April 2009, mud, gravel and pebbles were found in his
13-seat helicopter VT-RCL's (a Bell 412) gearbox. Despite the gear box
being located at a height of 10 feet from the ground, the gravel and pebbles
were put in the filler cap in the gear box. A senior pilot of Reliance
Transport and Travels Pvt. Ltd., Captain RN Joshi filed a complaint with
the Mumbai Police Commissioner's office, Maharashtra Chief Minister's
office, Maharasthra Home Minister's office, Chief Secretary's office, Joint
Commissioner of Police's office and also at the Santa Cruz Police Station.
The helicopter was standing outside a hangar at the Mumbai Airport when
the sabotage was found by Bharat Borge, a technician for Air Works. Borge
was found dead on April 28, 2009 on Mumbai's suburban railway tracks
between Vile Parle and Andheri. A letter was also found with him. Railway
Police believes that he might have been run over by the Churchgate-bound
fast-local. "Borge's mysterious death created a flutter, lending credence to
Anil Ambani's charge that certain 'rival business groups were trying to
eliminate him'. "[6][7]
The post-mortem conducted on Bharat Borge revelated that he died of
shock due to multiple fractures, resulting in brain haemorrhage.[8] There
was also a letter found in his pocket written in marathi saying "I haven't
done anything wrong. That day, some Reliance people came and spoke to
me. I didn't tell them anything. One of them took my number and said that
he'll talk to me later. I felt they were using me. I am writing this letter after
thinking all night. It looks like the blame will be on me. I think the
investigation is on the right track and truth will emerge soon."[8]
Investigators later said that Borge's death was an accident and not suicide.
[9]

Airworks India Engineering Pvt. Ltd., the company that maintains the
helicopter, was questioning its employees in the case.[10]
Awards and recognition

Anil Ambani(right) with Narendra Modiduring VGGIS 2003

 Voted the 3rd most powerful person in India in the 2009 India Today
Power List, in March.[11]
[12]
 Voted Businessman of the Year 2006 by Times of India-TNS poll
 Adjudged as the CEO of the Year at the prestigious Platts Global
Energy Awards for 2004.
 Voted as 'MTV Youth Icon of the Year for 2003' in September 2003.
 Conferred 'The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award' by the Bombay
Management Association, October 2002.
 Awarded the First Wharton Indian Alumni Award by the Wharton India
Economic Forum (WIEF) in recognition of his contribution to the
establishment of Reliance as a global leader in many of its business
areas, December 2001.
 Conferred the ' Businessman of the Year 1997' award by India's
leading business magazine Business India, December 1997.
Personal life
Anil Ambani is Gujarati Indian. He is married to Indian Bollywood
Actress Tina Munim and has two sons Anmol and Anshul. He has taken
part in the Mumbai Marathon race. Ambani is also a fan of Coca-Cola
Championship club, Newcastle United and was extremely close to buying
the club in September 2008. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an
Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - Upper House, Parliament of
India with the support of the Samajwadi Party. He wakes up daily at
4:00am, checks the news and then goes for a run.
He drinks 6 litres of water every day and likes to eat Pav Bhaji.
Travel
He has a Bell 412 13-seat helicopter, which he purchased in 2001.[13]
English Premier League
Ambani was in talks with Everton officials over a deal to takeover the club.
Before this he was also on the brink of buying Newcastle United. He is
now believed to be keen to re-kindle his interest in Everton as Chairman
Bill Kenwright has admitted he will now actively seek to sell his shares due
to the collapse of the clubs Destination Kirkby stadium project.