Dhirubhai Ambani Biography
Born December 28 1932
Died July 6 2002
Achievements Dhiru Bhai Ambani built Indias
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 50000 and set up a textile trading
company
Assisted by his two sons Mukesh and Anil Dhiru Bhai Ambani built Indias 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 Indias 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 Indias 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
ajaysurana August 27th 2006 0108 AM
Dhirubhai gave management a whole new ism
Dhirubhai Ambani was no ordinary leader He was a man who gave management a whole new ism
There is a new ism that Ive been meaning to add to the vast world of words for quite a while now
Because without exaggeration its 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 dont inspire big words
There you have it - now that is a classic Dhirubhaism the tendency to disregard ones own invaluable
contribution to society as significant
Im 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
Vimals 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 teams 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 doesnt 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
havent 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 Vimals 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 Its
difficult but not impossible And he was right We did go on to achieve the impossible
Both in its size and scope Vimals 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 thats 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
httpwwwmanagementparadisecomforumsarchiveindexphpt-5742html
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$137 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 Anils 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 $137 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 DA-
IICT Gandhinagar
Contents
[hide]
1 Career
o 11 Assassination attempt
2 Awards and recognition
3 Personal life
o 31 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 Indias 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$2 billion from overseas financial markets with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997
being the high point after which people regarded him as a financial wizard[citation needed]
He along with his
brother Mukesh Ambani has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as Indias leading textiles
petroleum petrochemicals power and telecom company
He has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his current wife of more than 15 years He
is a close friend of movie starAmitabh Bachchan and Subrata RoyOne of his major achievements in the
entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that
owns Indias only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven
Spielberg
He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother Mukesh Ambani over the supply of gas from the latters
KG basin
He recently topped Business Sheets worlds biggest loser list of business leaders who lost money in the Late
2000s recession[4]
losing $325 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-RCLs
(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 Commissioners office Maharashtra Chief
Ministers office Maharasthra Home Ministers office Chief Secretarys office Joint Commissioner of Polices
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 Mumbais 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 Borges mysterious death created a flutter lending
credence to Anil Ambanis 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 havent done
anything wrong That day some Reliance people came and spoke to me I didnt tell them anything One of
them took my number and said that hell 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 Borges 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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
Great lessons from Dhirubhai Ambani
ajaysurana August 27th 2006 0108 AM
Dhirubhai gave management a whole new ism
Dhirubhai Ambani was no ordinary leader He was a man who gave management a whole new ism
There is a new ism that Ive been meaning to add to the vast world of words for quite a while now
Because without exaggeration its 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 dont inspire big words
There you have it - now that is a classic Dhirubhaism the tendency to disregard ones own invaluable
contribution to society as significant
Im 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
Vimals 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 teams 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 doesnt 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
havent 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 Vimals 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 Its
difficult but not impossible And he was right We did go on to achieve the impossible
Both in its size and scope Vimals 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 thats 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
httpwwwmanagementparadisecomforumsarchiveindexphpt-5742html
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$137 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 Anils 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 $137 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 DA-
IICT Gandhinagar
Contents
[hide]
1 Career
o 11 Assassination attempt
2 Awards and recognition
3 Personal life
o 31 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 Indias 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$2 billion from overseas financial markets with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997
being the high point after which people regarded him as a financial wizard[citation needed]
He along with his
brother Mukesh Ambani has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as Indias leading textiles
petroleum petrochemicals power and telecom company
He has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his current wife of more than 15 years He
is a close friend of movie starAmitabh Bachchan and Subrata RoyOne of his major achievements in the
entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that
owns Indias only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven
Spielberg
He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother Mukesh Ambani over the supply of gas from the latters
KG basin
He recently topped Business Sheets worlds biggest loser list of business leaders who lost money in the Late
2000s recession[4]
losing $325 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-RCLs
(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 Commissioners office Maharashtra Chief
Ministers office Maharasthra Home Ministers office Chief Secretarys office Joint Commissioner of Polices
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 Mumbais 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 Borges mysterious death created a flutter lending
credence to Anil Ambanis 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 havent done
anything wrong That day some Reliance people came and spoke to me I didnt tell them anything One of
them took my number and said that hell 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 Borges 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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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
havent 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 Vimals 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 Its
difficult but not impossible And he was right We did go on to achieve the impossible
Both in its size and scope Vimals 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 thats 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
httpwwwmanagementparadisecomforumsarchiveindexphpt-5742html
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$137 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 Anils 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 $137 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 DA-
IICT Gandhinagar
Contents
[hide]
1 Career
o 11 Assassination attempt
2 Awards and recognition
3 Personal life
o 31 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 Indias 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$2 billion from overseas financial markets with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997
being the high point after which people regarded him as a financial wizard[citation needed]
He along with his
brother Mukesh Ambani has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as Indias leading textiles
petroleum petrochemicals power and telecom company
He has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his current wife of more than 15 years He
is a close friend of movie starAmitabh Bachchan and Subrata RoyOne of his major achievements in the
entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that
owns Indias only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven
Spielberg
He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother Mukesh Ambani over the supply of gas from the latters
KG basin
He recently topped Business Sheets worlds biggest loser list of business leaders who lost money in the Late
2000s recession[4]
losing $325 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-RCLs
(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 Commissioners office Maharashtra Chief
Ministers office Maharasthra Home Ministers office Chief Secretarys office Joint Commissioner of Polices
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 Mumbais 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 Borges mysterious death created a flutter lending
credence to Anil Ambanis 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 havent done
anything wrong That day some Reliance people came and spoke to me I didnt tell them anything One of
them took my number and said that hell 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 Borges 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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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$137 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 Anils 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 $137 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 DA-
IICT Gandhinagar
Contents
[hide]
1 Career
o 11 Assassination attempt
2 Awards and recognition
3 Personal life
o 31 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 Indias 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$2 billion from overseas financial markets with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997
being the high point after which people regarded him as a financial wizard[citation needed]
He along with his
brother Mukesh Ambani has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as Indias leading textiles
petroleum petrochemicals power and telecom company
He has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his current wife of more than 15 years He
is a close friend of movie starAmitabh Bachchan and Subrata RoyOne of his major achievements in the
entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that
owns Indias only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven
Spielberg
He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother Mukesh Ambani over the supply of gas from the latters
KG basin
He recently topped Business Sheets worlds biggest loser list of business leaders who lost money in the Late
2000s recession[4]
losing $325 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-RCLs
(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 Commissioners office Maharashtra Chief
Ministers office Maharasthra Home Ministers office Chief Secretarys office Joint Commissioner of Polices
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 Mumbais 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 Borges mysterious death created a flutter lending
credence to Anil Ambanis 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 havent done
anything wrong That day some Reliance people came and spoke to me I didnt tell them anything One of
them took my number and said that hell 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 Borges 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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 $137 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 DA-
IICT Gandhinagar
Contents
[hide]
1 Career
o 11 Assassination attempt
2 Awards and recognition
3 Personal life
o 31 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 Indias 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$2 billion from overseas financial markets with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997
being the high point after which people regarded him as a financial wizard[citation needed]
He along with his
brother Mukesh Ambani has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as Indias leading textiles
petroleum petrochemicals power and telecom company
He has been linked with several starlets in his long career including his current wife of more than 15 years He
is a close friend of movie starAmitabh Bachchan and Subrata RoyOne of his major achievements in the
entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs the movie production to distribution to multiplex company that
owns Indias only dome theatre and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven
Spielberg
He has been embroiled in a dispute with his brother Mukesh Ambani over the supply of gas from the latters
KG basin
He recently topped Business Sheets worlds biggest loser list of business leaders who lost money in the Late
2000s recession[4]
losing $325 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-RCLs
(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 Commissioners office Maharashtra Chief
Ministers office Maharasthra Home Ministers office Chief Secretarys office Joint Commissioner of Polices
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 Mumbais 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 Borges mysterious death created a flutter lending
credence to Anil Ambanis 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 havent done
anything wrong That day some Reliance people came and spoke to me I didnt tell them anything One of
them took my number and said that hell 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 Borges 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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
owns Indias 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 latters
KG basin
He recently topped Business Sheets worlds biggest loser list of business leaders who lost money in the Late
2000s recession[4]
losing $325 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-RCLs
(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 Commissioners office Maharashtra Chief
Ministers office Maharasthra Home Ministers office Chief Secretarys office Joint Commissioner of Polices
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 Mumbais 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 Borges mysterious death created a flutter lending
credence to Anil Ambanis 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 havent done
anything wrong That day some Reliance people came and spoke to me I didnt tell them anything One of
them took my number and said that hell 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 Borges 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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 Indias 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 400am 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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 Happionaires Cash The Crash CNBC - Network18 ISBN 978-81-906479-5-3 - 2009
References
1 ^ Anil Ambani topic page Forbescom Retrieved September 2010
2 ^ India Today 2005 Power List
3 ^ httpbetaprofitndtvcomnewsshowforbes-rich-list-india-s-wealthiest-people-29859
4 ^ httpbusinesssheetalleyinsidercomloser-1-anil-ambani
5 ^ Ibnlivecom assassination article
6 ^ Rediffcom
7 ^ India Today - article on dead witness
8 ^ a b Ambani chopper case Letter found on Bharat Borges body
9 ^ Ambani chopper case Borges death an accident not suicide
10 ^ Ambani chopper case Fmr Air Works staff questioned
11 ^ httpindiatodayintodayinindexphpoption=com_contentamptask=viewampid=31590ampItemid=1ampissueid=96amps
ectionid=30amppage=archieveamplimit=1amplimitstart=1
12 ^ httpwwwrelianceadagroupcomadportalADAmediabusinessman_yearhtml
13 ^ ibnlivecom assassination article
14 ^ Indian Tycoon Anil Ambani sets his sights on buying Everton
15 ^ httpwwwmirrorcouksportfootball20080929exclusive-everton-targeted-for-take-over-by-indian-
tycoon-worth-20billion-115875-20760882
World of EhttpenwikipediaorgwikiAnil_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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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
httpmwolkcomindiadhirubhai-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 ldquoVimalrdquo 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 85000 the groups Rs 25000 crore integrated Jamnagar refinery complex
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
in Gujarat houses the worlds 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 60000 crore group Indias largest business house has in abundance Venilal Estates Building 3A in Mumbais congested Bhuleshwar remains the nondescript five-storey chawlmdashsurrounded by saree shops and handcart vendorsmdashthat it was in the 60s when the seven-
member 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 50000 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 carlike the rest of us Anil Ambani was born here The Jariwala familys residence was one floor above and they
were among Dhirubhais 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 hes 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 Hotelmdashby 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 Dhirubhais 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 yearmdasha feat unparalleled by any other Indian corporate housemdashand that the Patalganga and Jamnagar projects were built by his sons Mukesh and Anil As news of Dhirubhais stroke spread Reliance shares fell but saner voices agreed that its just a knee-jerk short-term reaction It wont 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 thats the time to in fact buy I dont see Reliance suffering a discontinuity says Krishnamurthy Vijayan CEO JM 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 hasnt 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 Dhirubhais greatest achievement He created something splendid that he always planned would outgrow him
Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on Saturday night at 1115 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 Ambanis funeral was held in Mumbai on Sunday
evening Politicians captains of industry the film world down to the ubiquitous common man -- Dhirubhairsquos 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 65000 crore industrial empire Dhirubhai built single-handedly commands today Thousands thronged to take part in the final journey of one of Indiarsquos 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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 share-holders and well-wishers whom he always credited to be the force behind his phenomenal success Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while describing Ambani as ldquoan iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetimerdquo 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 nations 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 Indias top two private sector companies Description of Groups Business Reliance Group is Indias largest business house with total revenues of Rs 60000 crores (US$ 125 billion) cash flow of over Rs 7000 crores (US$ 14 billion) net profit of over Rs 4500 crores (US$
950 million) and exports of Rs 9370 crores (US$ 2 billion) The Group has total assets of Rs 55000 crores (US$ 115 billion) The groups activities span petrochemicals synthetic fibres fibre intermediates textiles oil amp gas financial services refining amp marketing power insurance telecom and infocom initiatives Reliance emerged as Indias 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 amp Reliance Petroleum Ltd Birthplace Chorwad village in Saurashtra (Gujarat) India Date of Birth December 28 1932 Fathers Name Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani Mothers Name Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani
Career At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A Besse amp 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 Reliances 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 Rs36000 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 Indias 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 Indias 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 amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
Voted as the most admired Indian of the millennium in the field of Business amp Economics in Legends - A Celebration of Excellence poll audited by Ernst amp 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 - Indias 50 most powerful decision-makers in Politics Business amp Finance Business Barons August 1999 Declared Most Admired Indian Business Leader by The Times of India Indiatimescom poll July 1999 The only Indian industrialist in Business Hall of Fame in Asiaweek October 1998 Awarded the Deans
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 Indias 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 amp 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 ccdrilcom
st tihttpprofilesallindiansitecomambanihtmlme rated it as ldquoexcellentrdquo 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 58000 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 Ambanirsquos 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 Indias 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 Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
Each changed India Ambanis 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 $123 billion in annual sales that recently became Indias first privately owned entrant to the Fortune 500 When Ambani died on July 6 at age 69 after nearly two weeks in a stroke-induced coma the countrys 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 India‟s 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 country‟s industrial landscape for nearly a century
Reliance is the only Indian private company to make the Fortune 500 list of the world‟s 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 mdash known as Dhirubhai mdash 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 Aden‟s coinage afforded an excellent opportunity to make money This arbitrage generated some $3000 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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 India‟s infamous ldquolicence-permit rajrdquo when businessmen with political connections could corner export import and manufacturing licences and accumulate huge fortunes
Sensing an opportunity in the textile industry mdash higher disposable incomes were leading to Indians buying better more expensive clothes mdash 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 mdash especially into related sectors mdash would depend on access to a cheap source of capital Rather than turning to the banking system he decided to tap Bombay‟s fledgeling stock exchange pioneering an equity cult that was to transform the corporate financing system in India Reliance‟s initial public offering in 1977 saw 58000 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 India‟s most influential and profitable concerns However the phenomenal growth of Reliance owed as much to Ambani‟s acumen as to the ease with which he was able to get official
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
rules and regulations mdash including import tariffs mdash introduced amended or scrapped in order to undercut his rivals and push his own business interests His methods earned him many bitter enemies in India‟s 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 Reliance‟s unconventional business methods seldom made it into the newspapers
The final phase of Reliance‟s 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 India‟s poor Through Reliance Industries he arranged computer education and training for thousands of students in schools in Bombay ldquoYou are getting an opportunity Make the best use of itrdquo he told children in December during one of his last public speeches ldquoBe daring Think big You can be the best If you believe in this you will be the bestrdquo
Ambani also saw the Indian Government‟s 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 Indias 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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 15000 rupees (about $375) Forty-four years later Reliance has grown into a conglomerate with an annual turnover of $132bn It is the only Indian private sector firm in the Fortune 500 list In the process the company has also acquired one of the worlds 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 Ambanis 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 Indias 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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 2300 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 ldquo I am the dubble that burstrdquo 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 Reliance‟s 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 No1 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 Goenka‟s 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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 bdquothe 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
httpmuraleedharantripodcomlegends_dhirubhaiambanihtml
visit these 2 sites also httpwwwindianetzonecom5dhirubai_ambanihtm
httpindiawithme-prateekblogspotcom201005world-of-entrepreneurs-mr-dhirubhaihtml
Ambanirsquos life has been portrayed in a famous Bollywood movie ldquoGururdquo 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 ldquoFriends of Reliancerdquo 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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
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 Itrsquos 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 VP 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
businessmanrsquos pocket He did everything possible for his companyrsquos 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 rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
Photo Courtesy rajputanaandazcom 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 tWorld 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
His professional career started in Yemen He worked with A Besse amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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 Dhirubhairsquos abilities and business mindedness
came into light at an early stage of his life when he started off with a small business of OnionPotato 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 amp Co where he was promoted to the
managerial level at companyrsquos 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 wersquoll 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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
ldquoHe had unbelievable managing skillsrdquo 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 donrsquot 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