Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian billionaire and

businessman who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries.[4] As

of May 2025, he is the richest person in Asia and 13th richest in the world, with a
net worth of US$108 billion.[5][6]

Sometimes characterized as a plutocrat,[7] he has attracted both fame and notoriety

for reports of market manipulation, political corruption, cronyism, and
exploitation.[8][9][10][11][12]

In October 2024, Ambani was ranked 1st on the Forbes list of India's 100 richest
tycoons, with a net worth of $119.5 billion.[13]

Early life
Ambani was born on 19 April 1957 in the British Crown colony of Aden (present-day
Yemen) into a Gujarati Hindu family to Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani. His
father was the founder and CEO of Reliance Industries, currently the largest public
company in India by market capitalization.[14] He has a younger brother Anil Ambani
and two sisters, Nina Bhadrashyam Kothari and Dipti Dattaraj Salgaonkar.[15]

Ambani lived only briefly in Yemen because his father decided to move back to India
in 1958 to start a trading business that focused on spices and textiles.[16] The
latter was originally named "Vimal" but later changed to "Only Vimal".[17][18] His
family lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai, until the
1970s.[19] The family's financial status slightly improved when they moved to India
but Ambani still lived in a communal society, used public transportation, and never
received an allowance.[20] Dhirubhai later purchased a 14-floor apartment block
called 'Sea Wind' in Colaba, where Ambani and his brother lived with their families
on different floors.[21]

Education
Ambani did his primary schooling from the Scindia School, Fort, Gwalior[22] and
senior secondary schooling from Hill Grange High School at Peddar Road, Mumbai,
along with his brother and Anand Jain, who later became his close associate.[23]
After his secondary schooling, he studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[24] He
then received a BE degree in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical
Technology.[25][26]

Ambani later enrolled for an MBA at Stanford University (where Steve Ballmer was
his classmate[27]) but withdrew in 1980 to help his father build Reliance, which at
the time was still a small but fast-growing enterprise.[25] His father felt that
real-life skills were harnessed through experiences and not by sitting in a
classroom, so he called his son back to India from Stanford to take command of a
yarn manufacturing project in his company.[20]

Ambani was influenced by his teachers William F. Sharpe and Man Mohan Sharma
because they are "the kind of professors who made you think out of the box."[25]
[28][29]

Career
Mukesh Ambani set up Reliance Infocomm Limited (later Reliance Communications
Limited), which was focused on information and communications technology
initiatives.[30] At the age of 24, Ambani was given charge of the construction of
Patalganga petrochemical plant when the company was heavily investing in oil
refinery and petrochemicals.[31]

Ambani directed and led the creation of the world's largest grassroots petroleum
refinery in Jamnagar, India, which could produce 660,000 barrels per day (33
million tonnes per year) in 2010, integrated with petrochemicals, power generation,
port, and related infrastructure.[32] In December 2013, Ambani announced the
possibility of a "collaborative venture" with Bharti Airtel in setting up digital
infrastructure for the 4G network in India.[33] On 18 June 2014, Ambani said he
will invest Rs 1.8 trillion (short scale) across businesses in the next three years
and launch 4G broadband services in 2015.[34]

Secretary Clinton meets with India's business leaders. From left to right: Ratan
Tata, Charmain of the Tata Group; Secretary Clinton; Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and
Managing Director of Reliance Industries.
In February 2014, a First Information Report (FIR) alleging criminal offences was
filed against Ambani for alleged irregularities in the pricing of natural gas from
the KG basin.[35]

Ambani was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2016 for
engineering and business leadership in oil refineries, petrochemical products, and
related industries.[36]

As of 2015, Ambani ranked fifth among India's philanthropists, according to China's

Hurun Research Institute.[37] He was appointed as a Director of Bank of America and
became the first non-American to be on its board.[38] As of 2016, Ambani was ranked
as the 36th richest person in the world and has consistently held the title of
India's richest person on Forbes magazine's list for the past ten years.[39] He is
the only Indian businessman on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people.
[40] He surpassed Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba Group,[41] to become
Asia's richest person with a net worth of $44.3 billion in July 2018.[42] He is
also the wealthiest person in the world outside North America and Europe.[43]

As of February 2018, Bloomberg's "Robin Hood Index" estimated that Ambani's

personal wealth was enough to fund the operations of the Indian federal government
for 20 days.[44]

Through Reliance, Ambani also owns the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai
Indians and is the founder of the Indian Super League, a football league in India.
[45]

Board memberships
Member of Board of Governors Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Chairman, managing director, Chairman of Finance Committee and Member of Employees
Stock Compensation Committee, Reliance Industries Limited
Former chairman, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited
Former vice-chairman, Reliance Petroleum
Chairman of the board, Reliance Petroleum
Chairman and Chairman of Audit Committee, Reliance Retail Limited
Chairman, Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC
Former director, Member of Credit Committee and Member of Compensation & Benefits
Committee, Bank of America Corporation[46]
President, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum.[47]
Awards and honors

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu at an event gives The Economic Times Award for
Corporate Excellence to Shri Mukesh Ambani.
Year of Award or Honor Name of Award or Honor Awarding Organization
2000 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year[48] Ernst & Young India
2010 Global Vision Award at The Awards Dinner[49] Asia Society
2010 School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean's Medal[50] University of
Pennsylvania
2010 ranked 5th-best performing global CEO[51] Harvard Business Review
2010 Global Leadership Award[52] Business Council for International
Understanding
2016 Foreign associate, U.S. National Academy of Engineering[53][54] National
Academy of Engineering
2016 Othmer Gold Medal[55][56] Chemical Heritage Foundation
Stock manipulation and penalty
For manipulating shares of Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL), Reliance Industries
was fined Rs. 950 crores (9.5 billion), split into 447 crores (4.47 billion) in
retracted gains and 500 crores (5 billion) in interest in 2007.[57] In April 2006,
RPL went public as a Reliance subsidiary for Rs. 60 per share. The market crashed
by 30% after it floated at roughly Rs. 100, and RPL was back at 60. By Securities
and Exchange Board of India directive, RIL carried out an organised operation with
the help of its agents to obtain unauthorised profits from the trading of its
formerly listed unit, RPL, which was combined with the former in 2009.[58][59][60]
[61][62]

Personal life

The Ambani family at the reception of Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in
2018[63]

Mukesh Ambani attending the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre Gala on Day 2
He married Nita Ambani in 1985 and they have two sons, Akash (born 23 October 1991)
and Anant (born April 10, 1995),[64] and a daughter, Isha Ambani, who is Akash's
twin.[65][3][66] They met after his father attended a dance performance which Nita
took part in and thought of the idea of arranging a marriage between the two.[67]

They live in Antilia, a private 27-storey building in Mumbai, which was valued at
US$1 billion and was the most expensive private residence in the world at the time
it was built.[68][69] The building requires a staff of 600 for maintenance, and it
includes three helipads, a 160-car garage, private movie theatre, swimming pool,
and fitness centre.[70]

Ambani was titled "The World's Richest Sports Team Owner" after he purchased the
IPL cricket team Mumbai Indians for $111.9 million in 2008.[71][72]

Mukesh Ambani is a strict vegetarian and teetotaler.[73]

During the fiscal year ending 31 March 2012, he reportedly decided to forgo nearly
₹240 million from his annual pay as chief of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). He
elected to do this even as RIL's total remuneration packages to its top management
personnel increased during that fiscal year. Mukesh Ambani holds a 50.4% stake in
the company.[74] This move kept his salary capped at ₹150 million for the fourth
year in a row.[75]

In early 2019, a court in Mumbai held his younger brother, Anil Ambani, in criminal
contempt for non-payment of personally guaranteed debt Reliance Communications owed
to Swedish gearmaker Ericsson. Instead of jail time, the court gave Anil a month to
come up with the funds. At the end of the month, Mukesh Ambani bailed out his
younger brother, paying the debt.[76] In 2021, he was the subject of a bomb scare
when a green Mahindra Scorpio SUV packed with explosives was found near a Mumbai
skyscraper housing Ambani.[77] In 2023, he received a death threat via email.[78]

On July 12 to 14, 2024, the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant was held
as a three-day event that took place at the Antilia building and Jio Convention
Center in Mumbai.[79][80] It had been described as India's "wedding of the
year"[79][81] and "India's own royal wedding".[82] The New York Times described it
as introducing "the world to [India]'s Gilded Age".[83] Estimates for the wedding's
cost range from $300 million[84] to $600 million,[82][85] and had led to criticism
regarding wealth inequality in India.[86] Anant Ambani recently donated a crown to
Lalbaugcha Raja worth 15 crores.[87]

In 2024, he acquired a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, becoming India's first private
owner of the aircraft. Purchased at about ₹1000 crores, it is be used by the Ambani
family for their long-distance travels.[88]

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