By India Today Business DeskBillionaire business tycoon Mukesh Ambani needs no introduction, having cemented his position as one of the most influential business leaders in India and across the world. Ambani, who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), celebrates his 66th birthday today.
As he turned a year older, birthday wishes poured in for Ambani on social media. People hailed him as a visionary businessman and credited him for his strong leadership skills and innovative thinking.
He is among the first wave of Indian businessmen who played an instrumental role in shaping India as a strong economic superpower, putting the country on the global stage. And Ambani has achieved this by focusing entirely on a simple mantraPurpose over money — an advice given to him by his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani.
He found his purpose with Reliance and made it his life’s goal to steer the company towards greatness. Money automatically trickled in. With a net worth of over $80 billion, he is not only Asia’s richest person, but also the 12th wealthiest in the world.
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When the world talks about Indian businesses today, it is impossible to leave out Reliance, which has undergone a drastic transformation over the years from being a traditional business house to a diversified conglomerate.
Mukesh Ambani’s RIL journey
In 1966, RIL was founded by Dhirubhai Ambani as a small company (Reliance Commercial Corporation) that used to trade commodities such as spices and polyester yarn. It became Reliance Industries Limited in the 1970s and used to primarily deal with textiles and polyester yarn production.
Mukesh Ambani joined the family business in the early 1980s after studying chemical engineering at the University of Bombay and dropping out of Standford University. Almost a decade after Mukesh Ambani joined, RIL saw aggressive expansion in sectors such as petrochemicals, power and even telecom.
When Dhirubhai Ambani passed away in 2002, the family business was taken over by Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother Anil Ambani. However, a feud between the two brothers led to a split in the company’s assets.
Mukesh Ambani assumed control of Reliance Industries, including interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas exploration, refining and textiles, while telecommunications, power generation, and financial services went to Anil Ambani.
The feud between the two Ambani brothers had raised concerns over the future of the group, but Mukesh Ambani’s determination drove RIL to the heights of success. Anil Ambani, on the other hand, could not mirror his brother’s success story and the failure of RComm eventually forced him to declare bankruptcy.
Under Mukesh Ambani’s leadership, Reliance has not only solidified its traditional businesses like petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas exploration, but also diversified into sectors such as telecommunications, retail, e-commerce and media.
Breaking traditional barriers
Over the last decade, Mukesh Ambani’s focus has largely been on diversification of RIL’s businesses with technology at the forefront. The journey towards diversification started with the inception of Reliance Jio in 2016. It led to widespread disruption in the country’s telecom sector, with 4G data plans becoming affordable for all.
Today, Jio is one of the leading telecom brands in the country and is the only one except Bharti Airtel that offers 5G services. It has received investments and backing from global investors and technology giants, including the likes of Google. Not just telecom services, Jio has even launched a range of affordable smartphones.
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But Jio was just the start of Reliance’s dominant streak as a new-age business, as Ambani steered the company towards becoming a digital superpower – be it telecom, retail, FMCG, e-commerce and even renewable energy.
Reliance has been expanding its hold on all consumer-focused sectors over the past few years, with a series of aggressive acquisitions along the way. And all these new-age businesses have helped Reliance reduce its dependence on traditional businesses and create a strong revenue pipeline.
Man with a vision
With this, Ambani has created a solid road map for Reliance’s growth in the era of digitisation. This would not have been possible without Ambani’s investments in creating digital infrastructure and services.
Mukesh Ambani’s vision for a digital India has been a driving force for Reliance Industries Limited. Under his leadership, Reliance has invested heavily in digital technology infrastructure and services — such as JioMart, JioHealthHub, and JioMeet — under its integrated technology subsidiary, JioPlatforms.
In fact, Reliance is also set to expand its footprint in the financial services domain with the demerger of Reliance Strategic Investments from RIL, following which it will be named Jio Financial Services.
Mukesh Ambani’s constant push to drive innovation and growth at Reliance has also benefitted India’s growth story. His investments in diversifying Jio’s business network have led to massive job creation across states, ultimately contributing to India’s economic growth.
In addition, the Reliance chief has taken big strides towards achieving sustainable growth by investing in green energy. “At Reliance, we have set an ambitious target of achieving net-zero carbon by 2035 and are investing over USD 10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in building the most comprehensive ecosystem for New Energy and New Materials in India to secure the promise of a sustainable future for generations to come,” said a statement on RIL’s website.
For all his contributions in the field of business, Ambani has been featured in some of the most elite lists. He made it to the TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people list in 2019 and was ranked second in the world’s top CEOs list by Brand Guardianship Index 2023. He has also been recognized by Harvard Business Review as the fifth best-performing CEO in the world.
While these recognitions are testimony to what Mukesh Ambani has achieved as the CEO of one of India’s largest conglomerates, the biggest achievement is his journey from humble beginnings to putting India on the global map with Reliance.
Julian Marks
Emanuel Schmitt
Jakob Auer