PC: The India Chron
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has stated his ambition to pass on his vast business empire to his children while maintaining that he has no immediate intentions to retire.
The 65-year-old Ambani outlined his succession plan on Monday, telling Reliance Industries shareholders that his three children are “first among equals” and are “mentored on a daily basis by our senior leaders, including myself.”
Ambani, the chairman and promoter of Reliance Industries, has two sons, Anant and Akash, as well as a daughter named Isha. The promoter and promoter group, which comprises Ambani’s wife and children as well as other affiliated entities, controls approximately 51% of the conglomerate, according to the company’s most recent filing with the Mumbai Stock Exchange.
The meeting’s keynote speaker, Asia’s second richest man, remarked, “Our next-gen executives are confidently taking over the reins across organisations.”
Ambani acquired his father’s oil company two decades ago, but during the past several years, he has diversified into tech, renewable energy, and retail. In 2016, he introduced the mobile network Reliance Jio. Since then, it has grown to include more than 400 million members and has included a streaming service, a fibre internet network, a video conferencing app, and digital payments.
Based on its stock market value, Reliance Industries is now valued at 17.8 trillion rupees ($224 billion).
“At Jio and Retail, respectively, Akash and Isha have taken on leadership positions. Since the beginning, they have been fervently involved in our consumer enterprises “Ambani remarked. Anant has enthusiastically joined our New Energy company as well.
With more than 15,000 outlets nationwide, Reliance Retail, which was founded in 2006, is India’s biggest retailer by revenue. Through a number of namesake brands, including Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, and Reliance Trends, they market everything from smartphones to groceries.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani has a net worth of over $90 billion, making him the 11th richest person in the world.
On Monday, the business magnate announced he wouldn’t be retiring just yet and would “continue to provide hands-on leadership.”
This is the first time Ambani has made an official declaration regarding the responsibilities his children would play during the transition, even though there has been a lot of conjecture in the Indian media about who will inherit his enterprise.
Sour Dispute
Dhirubhai Ambani’s father passed away in 2002 without leaving a will. After his passing, Ambani and his younger brother, Anil, engaged in a fierce power struggle over the empire.
In the end, Mukesh Ambani took over the majority of the company’s oil and petrochemicals holdings, while his brother took over the more recent endeavours, such as telecom and digital firms.
Since then, the brothers’ fortunes have diverged significantly. According to the Bloomberg index, Anil, a former billionaire, is no longer a member of the select club, and his older brother significantly contributed to his downfall.
With the Jio launch, Mukesh astounded India by providing clients with six months of cost-free high-speed internet. Anil’s Reliance Communications was among the businesses who were forced to completely exit the market as a result of the move’s savage price war.
Ambani informed the stockholders on Monday that Jio would spend $25 billion to expand 5G services throughout India.
“5G must remain a special service, offered exclusively to people in our greatest cities, or to the privileged few,” he stated. He stated, alluding to the Hindu festival in October, “Within the next two months, by Diwali, we will launch Jio 5G across numerous significant cities, including the metropolises of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.”
According to Ambani, the business is also collaborating with Google (GOOGL) to create “ultra-affordable 5G devices for India.” The two businesses released a low-cost 4G phone in the nation last year.
Since its launch, Jio has assisted in bringing hundreds of millions of Indians online for the first time thanks to its incredibly low data plans. India had fewer than 350 million internet users at the time Ambani started Jio. It now has more than 750 million.
Ambani stated, “We are committed to making India the largest data-powered economy in the world, surpassing China and the US.”
Regarding energy, Ambani stated that his company, Reliance, “aspires to make India a world leader in new energy manufacturing and a credible alternative to China,” and that it has plans to invest around $10 billion into the production of clean energy.
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