Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani (right) and his wife Nita Ambani (second right) pose with … [+]
The three children of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in Asia, have been appointed to the board of Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries as the 66-year-old chairman prepares to hand over the reins of India’s most valuable company by market capitalization.
The appointments of twins Isha and Akash, 31, and Anant, 28, are to be finalized after approval from shareholders, Reliance announced at its annual general meeting on Monday. Ambani, who has a net worth of $94.7 billion on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires Rankings, was re-appointed as chairman of Reliance for another five years in July.
Over the last few years, the three have been actively leading and managing Reliance’s main businesses, including in retail, digital services and energy, and serve on the boards of key subsidiaries.
Akash, an economics graduate from Brown University, has been chairman of Reliance’s telecommunication unit, Jio Infocomm, since June 2022. At the annual general meeting, Akash announced the launch of Jio Smart Home services, which allow customers to operate their Jio devices through a single app. Currently, Jio’s network covers nearly 85% of the total 5G cells operational in India.
His twin sister, Isha, holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University, and is a director of Reliance’s retail unit, Reliance Retail Ventures. Last week, sovereign wealth Qatar Investment Authority has agreed to invest $1 billion for a 1% stake of Reliance Retail Ventures.
And Anant, like his older brother, graduated from Brown University. He heads the energy businesses of Reliance and its global operations in green energy. Reliance has a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035.
Reliance also said Ambani’s wife, Nita, had stepped down from the board to devote her time to the company’s charity arm, Reliance Foundation, which she founded and serves as chairperson.
“Friends, this is truly an emotional moment for me because it reminds me of the day in 1977 when my father inducted me into the board of directors of Reliance,” said Ambani. “I was only 20 then. Today, I see both my father and me in Isha, Akash and Anant. I see the flame of Dhirubhai shine in all of them. They are fully internalized the founder’s mindset, they are fully committed to preserve and further enrich the purpose, philosophy, passion and pioneering spirit of Dhirubhai Ambani.”
Founded by Ambani’s father Dhirubhai in 1966 as a small textile manufacturer, Reliance has evolved to be a conglomerate with operations in oil and gas, petrochemicals, telecom, and retail.