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Asia’s Richest Man Grooms the Heirs to His $50 Billion Fortune
Mukesh Ambani’s children are playing a more visible role in the titan's business empire.
Mukesh Ambani
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg
By
P R Sanjai
August 16, 2019, 4:00 AM GMT+12
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Among Mumbai’s glitziest society events over the past year were two weddings in the family of Mukesh Ambani, the Indian tycoon who in 2018 became Asia’s richest person.
In December, his 27-year-old daughter Isha got married in a Bollywood-style extravaganza attended by global power brokers and titans of finance. Beyonce sang at the festivities, Hillary Clinton flew in and KKR & Co.’s Henry Kravis made an appearance. In March, her twin brother Akash wed in a ceremony attended by the likes of Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai.
The lavish events put Ambani’s eldest children in a very public spotlight at a time when they are playing more visible roles at his Reliance Industries Ltd.’s retail and telecommunications businesses.
See the list: The Richest Families in the World
Mukesh and Nita Ambani, left, and Ajay and Swati Piramal, right, during the wedding reception of their children Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal in Dec. 2018.
Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
Ambani, 62, has big ambitions in new areas like e-commerce and is enlisting his children to help drive the modernization of his empire. The rise of the twins offers early signs of the efforts the titan is making to groom his heirs. The billionaire on Aug. 12 announced that the world’s biggest crude producer, Saudi Aramco, will buy a 20% stake in the oil and chemicals business of Reliance Industries, allowing the Indian conglomerate to reduce the debt that increased during its expansion spree of recent years.
Over the coming decades, billions of dollars in wealth will be handed over to yet another generation in family-controlled businesses across Asia. Such dynastic transfers can come with pitfalls, as Mukesh and his younger brother, Anil, well know. More than a decade ago, the brothers were embroiled in a feud over the family business after their father, Dhirubhai, died without leaving a will.
The twins are having a very different beginning to their careers from the patriarch, Dhirubhai. The late industrialist—who started out as a gas-station attendant in Yemen—built up Reliance Industries into a petrochemicals giant at a time when India’s economy was heavily controlled by the government.
“They have to show their mettle in entrepreneurship and strategy like their father and grandfather,” said Kavil Ramachandran, a professor and executive director at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business.
Representatives for the senior Ambani brothers declined to comment, and Isha and Akash were not available for interviews.
Mukesh Ambani’s children are playing a more visible role in the titan's business empire.
Mukesh Ambani
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg
By
P R Sanjai
August 16, 2019, 4:00 AM GMT+12
LISTEN TO ARTICLE
6:22
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Share
Tweet
Post
Among Mumbai’s glitziest society events over the past year were two weddings in the family of Mukesh Ambani, the Indian tycoon who in 2018 became Asia’s richest person.
In December, his 27-year-old daughter Isha got married in a Bollywood-style extravaganza attended by global power brokers and titans of finance. Beyonce sang at the festivities, Hillary Clinton flew in and KKR & Co.’s Henry Kravis made an appearance. In March, her twin brother Akash wed in a ceremony attended by the likes of Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai.
The lavish events put Ambani’s eldest children in a very public spotlight at a time when they are playing more visible roles at his Reliance Industries Ltd.’s retail and telecommunications businesses.
See the list: The Richest Families in the World
Mukesh and Nita Ambani, left, and Ajay and Swati Piramal, right, during the wedding reception of their children Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal in Dec. 2018.
Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
Ambani, 62, has big ambitions in new areas like e-commerce and is enlisting his children to help drive the modernization of his empire. The rise of the twins offers early signs of the efforts the titan is making to groom his heirs. The billionaire on Aug. 12 announced that the world’s biggest crude producer, Saudi Aramco, will buy a 20% stake in the oil and chemicals business of Reliance Industries, allowing the Indian conglomerate to reduce the debt that increased during its expansion spree of recent years.
Over the coming decades, billions of dollars in wealth will be handed over to yet another generation in family-controlled businesses across Asia. Such dynastic transfers can come with pitfalls, as Mukesh and his younger brother, Anil, well know. More than a decade ago, the brothers were embroiled in a feud over the family business after their father, Dhirubhai, died without leaving a will.
The twins are having a very different beginning to their careers from the patriarch, Dhirubhai. The late industrialist—who started out as a gas-station attendant in Yemen—built up Reliance Industries into a petrochemicals giant at a time when India’s economy was heavily controlled by the government.
“They have to show their mettle in entrepreneurship and strategy like their father and grandfather,” said Kavil Ramachandran, a professor and executive director at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business.
Representatives for the senior Ambani brothers declined to comment, and Isha and Akash were not available for interviews.
