Dhirubhai Ambani Biography

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. 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.

Great lessons from Dhirubhai Ambani

ajay.surana Dhirubhai gave management a whole new 'ism'

August 27th, 2006, 01:08 AM

Dhirubhai Ambani was no ordinary leader. He was a man who gave management a whole new "ism". There is a new "ism" that I've been meaning to add to the vast world of words for quite a while now. Because, without exaggeration, it's a word for which no synonym can do full justice: "Dhirubhaism". Inspired by the truly phenomenal Dhirubhai H Ambani, it denotes a characteristic, tendency or syndrome as demonstrated by its inspirer. Dhirubhai, on his part, had he been around, would have laughed heartily and declared, "Small men like me don't inspire big words!" There you have it - now that is a classic Dhirubhaism, the tendency to disregard one's own invaluable contribution to society as significant. I'm sure everyone who knew Dhirubhai well will have his or her own little anecdote that illustrates his unique personality. He was a person whose heart and head both worked at peak efficiency levels, all the time. And that resulted in a truly unique and remarkable work philosophy, which is what I would like to define as Dhirubhaism. Let me explain this new "ism" with a few examples from my own experiences of working with him. Dhirubhaism No 1: Roll up your sleeves and help. You and your team share the same DNA. Reliance, during Vimal's heady days had organized a fashion show at the Convention Hall, at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi. As usual, every seat in the hall was taken, and there were an equal number of impatient guests outside, waiting to be seated. I was of course completely besieged, trying to handle the ensuing confusion, chaos and protests, when to my amazement and relief, I saw Dhirubhai at the door trying to pacify the guests. Dhirubhai at that time was already a name to reckon with and a VIP himself, but that did not stop him from rolling up his sleeves and diving in to rescue a situation that had gone out of control. Most bosses in his place would have driven up in their swank cars at the last moment and given the manager a piece of their minds. Not Dhirubhai. When things went wrong, he was the first person to sense that the circumstances would have been beyond his team's control, rather than it being a slip on their part, as he trusted their capabilities implicitly. His first instinct was always to join his men in putting out the fire and not crucifying them for it. Sounds too good a boss to be true, doesn't he? But then, that was Dhirubhai. Dhirubhaism No 2: Be a safety net for your team. There used to be a time when our agency Mudra was the target of some extremely vicious propaganda by our peers, when on an almost daily basis my business ethics were put on trial. I, on my part, putting on a brave front, never raised this subject during any of my meetings with Dhirubhai. But one day, during a particularly nasty spell, he gently asked me if I needed any help in combating it. That did it. That was all the help that I needed. Overwhelmed by his concern and compassion, I told him I could cope, but the knowledge that he knew and cared for what I was going through, and that he was there for me if I ever needed him, worked wonders for my confidence.

I went back a much taller man fully armed to face whatever came my way. By letting us know that he was always aware of the trials we underwent and that he was by our side through it all, he gave us the courage we never knew we had. Dhirubhaism No 3: The silent benefactor. This was another of his remarkable traits. When he helped someone, he never ever breathed a word about it to anyone else. There have been none among us who haven't known his kindness, yet he never went around broadcasting it. He never used charity as a platform to gain publicity. Sometimes, he would even go to the extent of not letting the recipient know who the donor was. Such was the extent of his generosity. "Expect the unexpected" just might have been coined for him. Dhirubhaism No 4: Dream big but dream with your eyes open. His phenomenal achievement showed India that limitations were only in the mind. And that nothing was truly unattainable for those who dreamed big. Whenever I tried to point out to him that a task seemed too big to be accomplished, he would reply: " No is no answer!" Not only did he dream big, he taught all of us to do so too. His one-line brief to me when we began Mudra was: "Make Vimal's advertising the benchmark for fashion advertising in the country." At that time, we were just a tiny, fledgling agency, tucked away in Ahmedabad, struggling to put a team in place. When we presented the seemingly insurmountable to him, his favourite response was always: "It's difficult but not impossible!" And he was right. We did go on to achieve the impossible. Both in its size and scope Vimal's fashion shows were unprecedented in the country. Grand showroom openings, stunning experiments in print and poster work all combined to give the brand a truly benchmark image. But way back in 1980, no one would have believed it could have ever been possible. Except Dhirubhai. But though he dreamed big, he was able to clearly distinguish between perception and reality and his favourite phrase "dream with your eyes open" underlined this. He never let preset norms govern his vision, yet he worked night and day familiarizing himself with every little nitty-gritty that constituted his dreams constantly sifting the wheat from the chaff. This is how, as he put it, even though he dreamed, none of his dreams turned into nightmares. And this is what gave him the courage to move from one orbit to the next despite tremendous odds. Dhirubhai was indeed a man of many parts, as is evident. I am sure there are many people who display some of the traits mentioned above, in their working styles as well, but Dhirubhai was one of those rare people who demonstrated all of them, all the time. And that's what made him such a phenomenal team builder and achiever. Yes, we all need "Dhirubhaisms" in our lives to remind us that if it was possible for one person to be all this and more, we too can. And like him, go on to achieve the impossible too

http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-5742.html

World of Entrepreneurs: Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani

Anil Ambani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anil Ambani

Born

4 June 1959 (age 51) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Residence

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Nationality

Indian

Alma mater

University of Mumbai University of Pennsylvania

Occupation

Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group

Net worth

US$13.7 billion (2010)[1]

Spouse

Tina Munim

Children

2[2]

Relatives

Mukesh Ambani (Brother)

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian business baron and chairman ofReliance 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 DAIICT, Gandhinagar.
Contents
[hide]

1 Career

1.1 Assassination attempt

2 Awards and recognition 3 Personal life

3.1 Travel

4 English Premier League 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External links

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[citation needed]. 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 starAmitabh 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.[5] 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 ofReliance 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] Voted Businessman of the Year 2006 by Times of India-TNS poll[12] 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. [1] He drinks 6 litres of water every day and likes to eat Pav Bhaji. [2]

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.[14][15] 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.

Bibliography

Yogesh Chabria, Happionaire's Cash The Crash. CNBC - Network18. ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009

References
1. ^ Anil Ambani topic page. Forbes.com. Retrieved September 2010. 2. ^ India Today 2005 Power List 3. ^ . http://beta.profit.ndtv.com/news/show/forbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859. 4. ^ http://businesssheet.alleyinsider.com/loser-1-anil-ambani 5. ^ Ibnlive.com assassination article 6. ^ Rediff.com 7. ^ India Today - article on dead witness 8. ^
a b

Ambani chopper case: Letter found on Bharat Borge's body

9. ^ Ambani chopper case: Borge's death an accident, not suicide 10. ^ Ambani chopper case: Fmr Air Works staff questioned 11. ^ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31590&Itemid=1&issueid=96&s ectionid=30&page=archieve&limit=1&limitstart=1 12. ^ http://www.relianceadagroup.com/adportal/ADA/media/businessman_year.html 13. ^ ibnlive.com assassination article 14. ^ "Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton". 15. ^ http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/29/exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indiantycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882/

World of Ehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Ambanintrepreneurs: Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani(Continued).. Outlasting the Critic

Dhirubhai Ambani- An Entrepreneur of Unmatched Caliber

Dhiraj Hirachand Ambani, popularly called Dhirubhai, is a well-known entrepreneur who introduced equity cult in India. He was the first businessman who generated capital for his company by issuing a public offer way back in 1977. He made common people a part of his company, and called them not just ordinary shareholders, but decision-makers of his company. This strategy helped him to attract more and more investments for his company. Dhirubhai Ambani used the capital to diversify his business from textiles to petrochemicals, telecommunications, infrastructure, information technology, capital markets, power, energy, logistics and retail. Diversification generated more profits, which not only made his investors happy, but also served to attract more investors. Under his able leadership, in a short period of time, Reliance Industries became the biggest private sector company of India, and Dhirubhai Ambani became the richest man of the world. His rags to riches story attracted criticism from all quarters. Noteworthy among them is the tussle with Nusli Wadia, the owner of Bombay dying and a direct competitor of Ambani. Despite of all obstacles, challenges and criticisms, Dhirubhai Ambani continued to excel and move ahead. He is an inspiration for all those entrepreneurs who wish to leave their mark.

http://mwolk.com/india/dhirubhai-ambani-an-entrepreneur-of-unmatched-caliber/

So I am here back again with the continuation of the life history of the legendary Mr. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani. In 1977 Dhirubhai established his first textile mill in Ahmadabad. This brand was named Vimal and it soon became a household name across the country. Such was the managing ability of Mr. Dhirubhai that even the World Bank team visiting his textile mill for the fir
Dhirubhai Ambani Business

Dhirubhai Ambani: "Think big, think fast"

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani is not just the usual rags-to-riches story or a Reliance patriarch but will be remembered as the one who rewrote Indian corporate history placing the ordinary investor on the perch and building a truly global corporate group in the country. Popularly known as Dhirubhai, the 70-year-old Ambani Sr, also changed the rules of the game in the industry in an era when the private sector was hampered by the Licence regime, even if he had attracted criticism that he did not always play fair. There is also the story of how the Ambanis blocked publication of a biography titled The Polyester Prince written by a foreign writer because they threatened legal action for anything they perceived as defamatory in the book. Think big" was his refrain and "I am not a loser" was a phrase that epitomised this man behind the Reliance Group which started as a textile manfacturing unit but made its name later as a leading petrochemicals producer diversifying into petroleum refining, telecom and information technology sectors. Now employing a workforce of 85,000, the group's Rs 25,000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex

in Gujarat houses the world's largest greenfield project with a capacity to refine 27 million tonnes of crude every year. Willpower is something the boy from Chorwad village in Gujarat, who set off for Aden at the age of 17 to seek his fortune and ended up creating a Rs 60,000 crore group, India's largest business house, has in abundance. Venilal Estates Building, 3A, in Mumbai's congested Bhuleshwar, remains the nondescript fivestorey chawlsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsthat it was in the '60s when the sevenmember Ambani clan lived there with a family friend in a tiny one-bedroom flat.

Armed with a Matriculation certificate, he went to Aden only to return with a big idea of owning a petroleum company - used as he was to a job of filling petrol in Shell service station. He returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and set up a textile trading company. The Ambanis moved on. Says elderly Ramchandra Belgaonkar, a tax consultant who lived next door: "They slept on the floor and had no telephone or car...like the rest of us." Anil Ambani was born here. The Jariwala family's residence was one floor above, and they were among Dhirubhai's first business contacts in the city. "My father had business dealings with Dhirubhai," says Rashmi Jariwala. "We used to import nylon yarn from Europe and Dhirubhai would sell it in the domestic market. But after India started producing the yarn domestically, our business suffered. By then, Dhirubhai had moved on to bigger things. And he's always thought big." Recollects old-time friend and Congress MP Murli Deora: "We would come to Delhi together on the morning flight and return the same night, taking the cheaper Dakota flight. We saved Rs 120 on airfare and hotel charges. We had an arrangement with Ashoka Hotelby paying Rs 25 we could keep our briefcases and get messages." It was a dire existence but Ambani chose to excel. "His warm-heartedness has never been in the form of organised, large-scale philanthropy but a spontaneous humility," says Freddie Mehta of Forbes Gokak, an old friend. His aura hung around the group like a talisman. Indeed, so strong has Dhirubhai's charisma been that investors often overlook the fact that in the last decade, while Dhirubhai was withdrawing from the group, Reliance was growing at a compounded rate of around 35 per cent a yeara feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate houseand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons, Mukesh and Anil. As news of Dhirubhai's stroke spread, Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that it's just a knee-jerk short-term reaction. "It won't last," says a senior investment banker. "The fundamentals are robust and eventually stock prices are decided on fundamentals and not sentiment. The succession plan in the Ambani house seems to be in place and, besides, the organisation is run by professionals. If the price falls, that's the time to in fact buy." "I don't see Reliance suffering a discontinuity," says Krishnamurthy Vijayan, CEO, J.M. Capital Management. "If he passes away, market sentiments will be affected more in terms of a sense of loss rather than a loss on the stock market. " Says Ambareesh Baliga, V-P, Karvy Stock Broking, "Dhirubhai hasn't built a company, he has built an institution. When a corporate has grown into an institution, it outgrows an individual or the promoter." That is perhaps Dhirubhai's greatest achievement. He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him.

Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 11:15 pm at the Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai. The Reliance patriarch was admitted to hospital on June 24 after he suffered a cerebral stroke. Subsequently, on June 25, he suffered two heart attacks and since has was on life support system. Ambani's funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday evening. Politicians, captains of industry, the film world, down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhais demise has left almost no section of Indian society untouched. The collective outpouring of grief is a measure of the amazing influence that Reliance Industries, the Rs 65,000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly, commands today. Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indias most famous sons. Those who

attended the funeral today ranged from the powerful to the famous, from LK Advani to Amitabh Bachchan. But what would have really gratified the spirit of Dhirubhai was the overwhelming presence of shareholders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while describing Ambani as an iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetime, deputed Minister of State in his office, Vijay Goel to represent him at the funeral today. The Prime Minister gave Ambani credit for envisioning the creation of world-class capacities in core areas of the nation's infrastructure in the private sector and translating that vision into reality in record time.

Dhirubhai Ambani

Business

Status in Company: Founder and Chairman, Reliance Group Names of major Companies: Reliance Industries Limited, Reliance Petroleum Limited. These are India's top two private sector companies. Description of Group's Business: Reliance Group is India's largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60,000 crores (US$ 12.5 billion), cash flow of over Rs 7,000 crores (US$ 1.4 billion), net profit of over Rs 4,500 crores (US$ 950 million) and exports of Rs 9,370 crores (US$ 2 billion). The Group has total assets of Rs 55,000 crores (US$ 11.5 billion). The group's activities span petrochemicals, synthetic fibres, fibre intermediates, textiles, oil & gas, financial services, refining & marketing, power, insurance, telecom and infocom initiatives. Reliance emerged as India's Most Admired Business House in a Taylor Nelson Sofres - Mode (TNS-Mode) survey for 2001 conducted for Business Barons magazine, June 2001. Directorships: Chairman: Reliance Industries Ltd. & Reliance Petroleum Ltd. Birthplace: Chorwad, village in Saurashtra (Gujarat), India Date of Birth: December 28, 1932 Father's Name: Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mother's Name: Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani Career: At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A. Besse & Co. Ltd., the sole selling distributor of Shell products. In the year 1958 returned to Mumbai and started his first company, Reliance Commercial Corporation, a commodity trading and export house. In the year 1966, as a first step in Reliance's highly successful strategy of backward integration, he started the textile mill in Naroda, Ahmedabad. In the year 1975, a technical team from the World Bank certified that the Reliance textile plant was "excellent by developed country standards." In the year 1977, the company went public. Credited with a number of financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. Today, the Reliance Group has one of the largest family of shareholders in the world. With an investment of over Rs.36,000 crores (US$ 9 billion) in petroleum refining, petrochemicals, power generation, telecommunication services and a port terminal in a three-year time frame, has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading textiles-petroleum-petrochemicals-power-telecom player. Achievements: Conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by India HRD Congress, February 2002. Conferred The Economic Times Award for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievement, August 2001. Thrice rated as one of 'India's Most Admired CEOs' in the Business Barons-Taylor Nelson Sofres-Mode survey, June 2001, 2000 and 1999. Felicitated by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai with a citation at a civic address and civic reception, December 2000. Conferred the '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, November 2000. Conferred the 'Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century' award by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries), for his meticulous scripting of one of the most remarkable stories of business endeavour of the 20th century, March 2000. Thrice (2000, 1998 and 1996) nominated as one of the 'Power 50 - the most powerful people in Asia' by Asiaweek magazine.

Voted as the most admired Indian of the millennium in the field of Business & Economics in 'Legends - A Celebration of Excellence' poll audited by Ernst & Young for Zee Network, January 2000. Voted as 'Creator of Wealth' of the Century in The Times of India poll, January 2000. Chosen as one of the three 'makers of equity' by India Today in their special millennium issue entitled '100 People Who Shaped India in the 20th Century', January 2000. Chosen by the Indian Merchants Chamber as "An Outstanding Visionary of the 20th Century" in recognition of his unique achievements and contribution in the development of industry and capital markets in India, December 1999. Voted as 'Indian Businessman of the Century' in Business Barons Global Multimedia Poll, December 1999. Amongst 'The Power 50 - India's 50 most powerful decisionmakers in Politics, Business & Finance', Business Barons, August 1999. Declared 'Most Admired Indian Business Leader' by The Times of India, Indiatimes.com poll, July 1999. The only Indian industrialist in 'Business Hall of Fame' in Asiaweek, October 1998. Awarded the Dean's Medal by The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, for setting an outstanding example of leadership, June 1998. Chosen as a Star of Asia by Business Week, USA, June 1998. Leading business magazine Business Barons placed him in its list of 'India's 25 Most Influential Business and Financial Leaders', June 1998. Awarded the Companion Membership of the Textile Institute, UK, an award which is limited to 50 living members who have "substantially advanced the general interests of the industries based on fibres", 1994. Chosen 'Businessman of the Year 1993', Business India, January 1994. Marital Status: Married to Kokilaben, has four children: two sons, Mukesh, who is Vice-Chairman & Managing Director and Anil, Managing Director of Reliance Industries and two daughters, Dipti Salgaocar who lives in Goa and Nina Kothari, who resides in Chennai. Business address: Maker Chambers IV, 222, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. (India) Telephone: Office (+91 22) 287 3655 Telefax: (+91 22) 285 6503 E-mail: ccd@ril.com

st tihttp://profiles.allindiansite.com/ambani.htmlme rated it as excellent as per the International standards in those years. Soon, he jumped into the share market by releasing an IPO for Reliance Industries. Initially itself Reliance had around 58,000 investors, small or big from all across the country but mostly from Gujrat. Dhirubahi can be credited for bringing the equity culture amongst Indian public. The success of reliance attracted many more investors and the annual meetings of the company were held in Stadiums. In 1986, Ambanis net worth was estimated to be around 1 Billion. Such a fast growth he had in such a short span of time.

Dhirubhai Ambani

Mohandas Gandhi and Dhirubhai Ambani were the two most famous scions of the Modh Bania, a Hindu commercial caste based in the arid Saurashtra peninsula of India's western Gujarat state. The Mahatma idealized traditional village ways, passive resistance, and homespun cotton. Ambani, a billionaire industrialist, preached prosperity to a burgeoning Indian middle-class via a business empire built on polyester.

Each changed India. Ambani's public wore his textiles as durable suits and glittery saris. Indians invested by the millions in his Bombay-listed Reliance Industries, a sprawling conglomerate with $12.3 billion in annual sales that recently became India's first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500. When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a strokeinduced coma, the country's media recounted his rags-to-riches life as an Indian morality play. Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, was born in Chorwad, Gujarat, on December 28, 1932. He died in Bombay on July 6, 2002, aged 69. Dhirubhai Ambani is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. His two American-educated sons have been in day-to-day control of the company since he suffered a stroke in 1986. He suffered a further stroke 12 days ago from which he never recovered. Dhirubhai Ambani - Entrepreneur who built up the only Indian business to feature in the Forbes 500 One of Indias most dynamic and flamboyant entrepreneurs, Dhirubhai Ambani was head of the multibillion-dollar Reliance group of industries with extensive interests in textiles, petrochemicals, energy and telecommunications. Combining a keen sense of business with a razor-sharp ability to negotiate his way through the labyrinth of the Indian political establishment, Ambani single-handedly built a business empire that in just three decades outgrew corporate houses such as the Tatas and Birlas which had dominated the countrys industrial landscape for nearly a century. Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the worlds largest corporations, and Ambani was listed by Forbes as the 138th richest person in the world this year. The son of a petty trader from a remote village in rural Gujarat, Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani known as Dhirubhai moved to Aden as a teenager in order to seek his fortune. He started work as a petrol station attendant before taking up a clerical position for an oil company that was the sole distributor of Shell products there. While in Aden, home to many Gujarati expatriates, he realised that a discrepancy between the rial-sterling exchange rate and the intrinsic value of the silver content in Adens coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money. This arbitrage generated some $3,000 in

seed money for the modest trading enterprise that Ambani set up when he returned to Bombay in 1958. The trading house Reliance Commercial Corporation began by importing polyester yarn and exporting spices. This was the era of Indias infamous licence-permit raj, when businessmen with political connections could corner export, import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes. Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better, more expensive clothes Ambani sought and received the necessary clearances to manufacture cloth from polyester fibre. He opened his first textile mill in Naroda, near Ahmedabad, in 1966 and then concentrated on quietly building up his business. Vimal, the textile brand he established, flourished and remains a household name in India today. Though Reliance was a profitable enough concern, Ambani quickly calculated that further expansion especially into related sectors would depend on access to a cheap source of capital. Rather than turning to the banking system, he decided to tap Bombays fledgeling stock exchange, pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India. Reliances initial public offering in 1977 saw 58,000 investors buying shares; eventually, the number of Reliance shareholders was to climb to some three million. To Indian middle-class salary-earners, Ambani held out the promise of instant enrichment through the stock market. But he was no fly-by-night operator: Reliance shares offered genuine value, and those fortunate enough to have had faith in the company in the early years eventually became millionaires. Annual general meetings were held in sports stadiums where Ambani would be treated by shareholders with adulation and even reverence. In 1982 Ambani began the process of backward integration, setting up a plant to manufacture polyester filament yarn. He subsequently diversified into chemicals, gas, petrochemicals, plastics, power and telecom services. By the late 1980s the Reliance group was one of Indias most influential and profitable concerns. However, the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambanis acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official

rules and regulations including import tariffs introduced, amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests. His methods earned him many bitter enemies in Indias corporate world. Ambani nevertheless forged ahead, cultivating friends in virtually every Indian political party and managing the media in such a way that critical stories about Reliances unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers. The final phase of Reliances diversification occurred in the 1990s when the company turned aggressively towards petrochemicals and telecommunications. But, like most business people, Ambani had rivals, the most bitter of whom was Nusli Wadia, of Bombay Dyeing, a patrician entrepreneur whose company was well established in the textile industry. Ambani was also anxious to encourage the spread of information technology among Indias poor. Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay. You are getting an opportunity. Make the best use of it, he told children in December during one of his last public speeches. Be daring. Think big. You can be the best. If you believe in this, you will be the best. Ambani also saw the Indian Governments privatisation programme as a means of further growth. Two months before his death, Reliance successfully bid for the giant public sector Indian Petro-Chemicals. His two American-educated sons have been in day-to-day control of the company since he suffered a stroke in 1986. He suffered a further stroke 12 days ago from which he never recovered. Dhirubhai H Ambani rose from humble beginnings to become chairman of India's largest private sector company. In one of his more candid moments, the otherwise reticent tycoon summed up the secret of his remarkable success story. Even those who question his business dealings... readily concede that Ambani had a vision and matchless business acumen Think big, think fast and think ahead. Born in 1932 to a school teacher father in the small village of Chorwad in western Gujarat state, Ambani followed this advice all his life. He dreamt big even as a small boy when he used to sell hot snacks to pilgrims outside a temple in his native village. And he did not

stop dreaming big even when he went to Aden as a petrol pump attendant at the age of 17 to help support his family. It was this desire to make it big in life which prompted his return to India in 1958. Ambani came to Bombay and started his first company, Reliance Commercial Corporation, a commodity trading and export house. The company was set up with an investment of 15,000 rupees (about $375). Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $13.2bn. It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list. In the process, the company has also acquired one of the world's largest groups of shareholders, with over four million investors putting their faith in its stock. In 1966 the Reliance group opened its first textile mill in Naroda in Ahmedabad. The textile mill won accolades in 1975 from a World Bank technical team, who described it as "excellent by developed country standards". Two years later the company went public, evoking a tremendous response from investors. That made Ambani something of a revered figure among the stock investors' fraternity, who held him in awe from then on. They credit the Reliance chairman with introducing a stock market culture in the country. In the 25 years since it went public Reliance has become more than just a textile industry player. It now has interests in power, telecoms, petrochemicals and life sciences as well. Under Ambani's guidance it became one of the biggest first-generation success stories in Asia. Its founder will go down perhaps as the most controversial industrialist in India's corporate history. He was known for assiduously cultivating those in positions of power. Many observers attribute his phenomenal rise to his close contacts with the Congress leadership in the 1970s and 1980s. But even those who question his business dealings - especially in the earlier years of Reliance - readily concede that Ambani had a vision and matchless business acumen. While he and his family may have begrudged what they thought was insufficient recognition from his peers and the press till the 1980s, all that changed in the last decade, during which the Reliance family really flourished. Asiaweek magazine voted Ambani amongst the 50 most powerful men in Asia - not once but three times, in 2000, 1998 and 1996. The federation of Indian chambers of commerce and industry (FICCI) conferred on him the Indian entrepreneur of the 20th Century award. A poll

conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted him "creator of wealth in the century". And in December 2000 Ambani was honoured at a civic reception by the municipal corporation of Bombay. His sons, Mukesh and Anil, both of them groomed in business by their father, have turned into great business leaders in their own right. Rags to riches is click that is often applied to describe the climb up the ladder of even modestly successful businessmen. But it could hardly be more appropriately used than to trace the meteoric rise of Dhirubhani Ambani, Chairman of high flying Reliance Industries, rated among the top three business groups in India today. From an initial investment of a mere Rs. 15000 in 1958 to start a trading house, followed by the setting up of his own tiny manufacturing facility in Gujarat in 1966, Ambani, Son of a rural school teacher, has managed to build up a synthetic yarn, textiles and petrochemicals empire that is today the third largest private sector mega corporation. For the year ended March 1991, Reliance Industries is understood to have recorded a sales turnover of Rs. 2,300 crores ( more than US $ 1 billion), making it the third largest private corporation in the country to day. Those who predicted that he was a conman, a confidence trickster, have had to eat their words. I am the dubble that burst! chortles Dhirubhai, sarcastically referring to the negative headlines that greeted his forays into the primary capital market in the early- 1980s. Success on such a gigantic scale inevitable excites jealousy and enmity; and Ambani, today 58, has had to deal with his share. Reliances have been the subject of several exposes in the press. But these have neither fazed the tycoon extraordinaire, nor halted the inexorable progress of his march forward towards his goal of becoming the undisputed No.1 in the country. To any sort of sniping in the press, Dhirbhai has responded with stoic silence. Rarely has he reacted to even the most stringent media criticism. In the last couple of years, though, he has taken a leaf out of industrialist-cum press baron Ramnath Goenkas book. He has taken the precaution of shoring up his own strength in the media, not minding the expenditure of huge sums of money, and timing the launches of his products to a nicety. Though not as physically hardy as before, Dhirubhai has not let the permanent handicap of the paralytic stroke blunt the edge of his razor-sharp

brain. It is still from his fourth floor office in Maker tower IV at Nariman point that all major policy decisions which affect the future of the Reliance group are taken. The routine running of the organization is left to Mukesh and Anil, who nevertheless consult him in all key matters. There are some opinion-makers, like well-known newspaper editor Vinod Mehta, who have referred in print to Dhirubhai Ambani as the embodiment of evil; However, to the Gujarati business community, he has assumed the status of demi-god. To al aspiring small-time entrepreneurs, he has become a sort of benchmark they aim at. And so, with each succeeding day, the legend to Dhirubhai Ambani continues to gather spice.
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Ambanis life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie Guru. Most of the part is based on truth just like the character played by Mr. Mithun Chakraborty. He portrays a former friend and then a hard-core critic of Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr. Ramnath Goenka. He used to publish articles against Reliance Industry everyday in his newspaper, The Indian express. But Dhirubhai never succumbed to criticism. He continued his great Entrepreneurial spirit and Reliance flourished year by year.

The biggest controversial incidents involving Mr. Dhirubhai was the one in 1982 when a group of stock brokers termed as Friends of Reliance outplayed a bear cartel from Kolkata and made profits at Stock market. The matter, in a nutshell, was like a group of stock brokers sold the shares of reliance and promised the delivery at a future date hoping that the price at the future date would fall and they would

make profits in short selling of shares. But they dint knew whom they were dealing with. Mr. Dhirubhai appointed another group of stock brokers who was purchasing those shares and never let the price go down. On the final day, the Bull cartel was in trouble and had to buy the share and pay a penalty of Rs. 2 per share. The incident shot up the share price of Reliance to Rs. 180 from Rs. 150 in minutes. The bull cartel had to buy shares at a higher price and add a penalty to it and then give it to the other group of brokers favoring reliance. It is said that those shares also were provided by Mr. Dhirubhai himself. He surely made a lot of money that day using his wittiness and intelligence. To investigate this whole incident the market was closed for three working days and government made an official statement describing the events in detail. Such was the hold of this legend on the market that he made all wonder that how can a simple textile owner can topple the whole national market. Its all in the vision!!!

In addition to this incident Mr. Dhirubhai was criticized of meddling in the government policies and molding them to his advantage. He even had differences with Mr. V.P. Singh, the former PM of India. But, he outlasted them all and emerged as the most successful Businessman of the country. I think what all he did for continuing his business was correct and he did it not only for himself but for many others whom he was responsible for, his employees. If he paid off government to favor Reliance, I think, he did so because the officials themselves were corrupt and saw an opportunity to extract money from this businessmans pocket. He did everything possible for his companys survival. May be, many of my readers must be having some different opinion on this.

Whatever, be the opinions on the life of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani he was no doubt a life saver for millions of Indians. He has generated millions of jobs in the country and today Reliance is the biggest enterprise in the country. Thanks to the daring and risk-taking ability of this legendry entrepreneur.

Thanks!!

Photo Courtesy: rajputanaandaz.com, Reliance India

This person is the most respected Businessman of India till date. His life and methods have inspired many youths to achieve their dreams. He has proved, in the real sense, that where there is a will there is a way. He has built an empire called Reliance against all odds posed by the not-too-liberal Indian Economic Policies. Today, I am taking an insight into the life of the Business Legend named Dhirubhai Ambani.

Mr. Dhirubhai was born on 28 December 1932 in Junagadh district of Gujrat in India. Dhirubhai was the second son in his family which had very little earnings. His father was a school teacher and his parents knew how to make the utmost use of every single penny they earned. Highly intelligent, as he was, Dhirubhai was never interested in classroom studies. He preferred to go for works that used his physical ability rather than spending time in classes and lectures. Dhirubhais abilities and business mindedness came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of Onion/Potato fries stalls at village fairs. For a person in a family like that of his it was a bit difficult to think out-of-the-box, but he did so and was successful in improving the financial conditions of his family.

His professional career started in Yemen. He worked with A. Besse & Co. where he was promoted to the managerial level at companys filling stations at port of Aden. Now, here comes the second example of his being a manipulator. In those days the Yemini Rial was made of silver coins and was very much in demand in London Bullion exchange. Dhirubhai used to collect the silver coins and melt them into pure silver to sell it into the market. He later admits that he made some lakhs of rupees by this manipulation. To grab such opportunities is the biggest quality of this business stalwart, as well see it throughout his life story.

Finally Dhirubhai started his own business of Polyester Yarn in South Mumbai. He started importing Polyester from Yemen and exported Spices in turn. The first office of Reliance Commercial Corporation had one room with one table and three chairs. His family used to live in a single room apartment in South Mumbai. He was never famous amongst his partners in business as he was a known risk-taker and thus never missed out the opportunities at hand. An entrepreneur has to take risks initially as he is the one who brings in something new in the market. This is what Dhirubhai did. At the time when no one believed in him and in the business of Polyester, he was the one who kept going with the idea confidently.

He had unbelievable managing skills, recalls the employees of his company of those days. He made an Open-door policy in his office which meant that anybody can go to his cabin and discuss about the problems of any sort. Dhirubhai was always a step ahead of his competitors. After polyester he started importing rayon. Rayon was very much in demand in the country and thus he made huge profits. When Rayon mills started coming up in India itself then he imported Nylon. This much was his innovation and Business skills that he was always updated of the new products outside the country which had surplus demands. Moreover, initially he used to export spices and that too at loss, just to get permission to import Polyester. Then he started exporting rayon, again at loss, to import nylon. Here, another lesson for Entrepreneurs. Money is the ultimate goal of business, no doubt in that. But, it is not the immediate goal. Think in a long-term view. If Dhirubhai would have stopped exports at loss he would not have imported t

World of

Entrepreneurs: Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani

This person is the most respected Businessman of India till date. His life and methods have inspired many youths to achieve their dreams. He has proved, in the real sense, that where there is a will there is a way. He has built an empire called Reliance against all odds posed by the not-too-liberal Indian Economic Policies. Today, I am taking an insight into the life of the Business Legend named Dhirubhai Ambani.

Mr. Dhirubhai was born on 28 December 1932 in Junagadh district of Gujrat in India. Dhirubhai was the second son in his family which had very little earnings. His father was a school teacher and his parents knew how to make the utmost use of every single penny they earned. Highly intelligent, as he was, Dhirubhai was never interested in classroom studies. He preferred to go for works that used his physical ability rather than spending time in classes and lectures. Dhirubhais abilities and business mindedness came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of Onion/Potato fries stalls at village fairs. For a person in a family like that of his it was a bit difficult to think out-of-the-box, but he did so and was successful in improving the financial conditions of his family.

His professional career started in Yemen. He worked with A. Besse & Co. where he was promoted to the managerial level at companys filling stations at port of Aden. Now, here comes the second example of his being a manipulator. In those days the Yemini Rial was made of silver coins and was very much in demand in London Bullion exchange. Dhirubhai used to collect the silver coins and melt them into pure silver to sell it into the market. He later admits that he made some lakhs of rupees by this manipulation. To grab such opportunities is the biggest quality of this business stalwart, as well see it throughout his life story.

Finally Dhirubhai started his own business of Polyester Yarn in South Mumbai. He started importing Polyester from Yemen and exported Spices in turn. The first office of Reliance Commercial Corporation had one room with one table and three chairs. His family used to live in a single room apartment in South Mumbai. He was never famous amongst his partners in business as he was a known risk-taker and thus never missed out the opportunities at hand. An entrepreneur has to take risks initially as he is the one who brings in something new in the market. This is what Dhirubhai did. At the time when no one believed in him and in the business of Polyester, he was the one who kept going with the idea confidently.

He had unbelievable managing skills, recalls the employees of his company of those days. He made an Open-door policy in his office which meant that anybody can go to his cabin and discuss about the problems of any sort. Dhirubhai was always a step ahead of his competitors. After polyester he started importing rayon. Rayon was very much in demand in the country and thus he made huge profits. When Rayon mills started coming up in India itself then he imported Nylon. This much was his innovation and Business skills that he was always updated of the new products outside the country which had surplus demands. Moreover, initially he used to export spices and that too at loss, just to get permission to import Polyester. Then he started exporting rayon, again at loss, to import nylon. Here, another lesson for Entrepreneurs. Money is the ultimate goal of business, no doubt in that. But, it is not the immediate goal. Think in a long-term view. If Dhirubhai would have stopped exports at loss he would not have imported the commodities in demand. Surprisingly, he carried on with the exports at loss and made a profit of over 300 percent every year with the imported material.

Dhirubhai is said to be great fixer. He had his own ways of tackling government officials and he was an expert in getting his work done. His wittiness brought him under fire several times. I would be describing some of such events from his life in the next post. I dont care what his critics say about his methods but I think that for being an entrepreneur one must be a little hard hearted as Mr. Dhirubhai was, in his business.

he commodities in demand. Surprisingly, he carried on with the exports at loss and made a profit of over 300 percent every year with the imported material.

Dhirubhai is said to be great fixer. He had his own ways of tackling government officials and he was an expert in getting his work done. His wittiness brought him under fire several times. I would be describing some of such events from his life in the next post. I dont care what his critics say about his methods but I think that for being an entrepreneur one must be a little hard hearted as Mr. Dhirubhai was, in his business.

World of Entrepreneurs: Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani

This person is the most respected Businessman of India till date. His life and methods have inspired many youths to achieve their dreams. He has proved, in the real sense, that where there is a will there is a way. He has built an empire called Reliance against all odds posed by the not-too-liberal Indian Economic Policies. Today, I am taking an insight into the life of the Business Legend named Dhirubhai Ambani.

Mr. Dhirubhai was born on 28 December 1932 in Junagadh district of Gujrat in India. Dhirubhai was the second son in his family which had very little earnings. His father was a school teacher and his parents knew how to make the utmost use of every single penny they earned. Highly intelligent, as he was, Dhirubhai was never interested in classroom studies. He preferred to go for works that used his physical ability rather than spending time in classes and lectures. Dhirubhais abilities and business mindedness came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of Onion/Potato fries stalls at village fairs. For a person in a family like that of his it was a bit difficult to think out-of-the-box, but he did so and was successful in improving the financial conditions of his family.

His professional career started in Yemen. He worked with A. Besse & Co. where he was promoted to the managerial level at companys filling stations at port of Aden. Now, here comes the second example of his being a manipulator. In those days the Yemini Rial was made of silver coins and was very much in demand in London Bullion exchange. Dhirubhai used to collect the silver coins and melt them into pure silver to sell it into the market. He later admits that he made some lakhs of rupees by this manipulation. To grab such opportunities is the biggest quality of this business stalwart, as well see it throughout his life story.

Finally Dhirubhai started his own business of Polyester Yarn in South Mumbai. He started importing Polyester from Yemen and exported Spices in turn. The first office of Reliance Commercial Corporation had one room with one table and three chairs. His family used to live in a single room apartment in South Mumbai. He was never famous amongst his partners in business as he was a known risk-taker and thus never missed out the opportunities at hand. An entrepreneur has to take risks initially as he is the one who brings in something new in the market. This is what Dhirubhai did. At the time when no one believed in him and in the business of Polyester, he was the one who kept going with the idea confidently.

He had unbelievable managing skills, recalls the employees of his company of those days. He made an Open-door policy in his office which meant that anybody can go to his cabin and discuss about the problems of any sort. Dhirubhai was always a step ahead of his competitors. After polyester he started importing rayon. Rayon was very much in demand in the country and thus he made huge profits. When Rayon mills started coming up in India itself then he imported Nylon. This much was his innovation and Business skills that he was always updated of the new products outside the country which had surplus demands. Moreover, initially he used to export spices and that too at loss, just to get permission to import Polyester. Then he started exporting rayon, again at loss, to import nylon. Here, another lesson for Entrepreneurs. Money is the ultimate goal of business, no doubt in that. But, it is not the immediate goal. Think in a long-term view. If Dhirubhai would have stopped exports at loss he would not have imported the commodities in demand. Surprisingly, he carried on with the exports at loss and made a profit of over 300 percent every year with the imported material.

Dhirubhai is said to be great fixer. He had his own ways of tackling government officials and he was an expert in getting his work done. His wittiness brought him under fire several times. I would be describing some of such events from his life in the next post. I dont care what his critics say about his methods but I think that for being an entrepreneur one must be a little hard hearted as Mr. Dhirubhai was, in his business.