Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani
Ambani during Reliance Group AGM at Mumbai, 2012
Born	(1959-06-04) 4 June 1959 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Gujarati
Alma mater	University of Mumbai Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Occupation	Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
Net worth	US$12.5 billion (2015)[1]
Spouse(s)	Tina Ambani
Children	Jai Anmol Ambani Jai Anshul Ambani
Parent(s)	Dhirubhai Ambani Kokilaben Ambani
Relatives	Mukesh Ambani (Brother)
Website
Anil Ambani

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (Gujarati: અનીલધીરજલાલ (ધીરૂભાઈ) અંબાણી, born 4 June 1959) is an Indian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Reliance Group (also referred to Reliance ADA Group) which came into existence in June 2005 following a demerger from Reliance Industries Limited. He leads a large number of listed corporations including Reliance Capital,^[2] Reliance Infra,^[3] Reliance Power and Reliance Communications^[4][5] Ambani's net worth is $5.9 billion according to the Forbes billionaire list for 2014.^[6]

In India he is one of the largest producers of Bollywood film industry. His major interests in entertainment include 44 FM radio stations, nationwide DTH business, animation studios, and several multiplex cinemas throughout India. ^[7] He is married to former Bollywood actress, Tina Munim and has two sons Anmol and Anshul.^{[8] [9]}

Early and personal life

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 4th June, 1959, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is the younger son of the visionary entrepreneur Shri Dhirubhai Ambani and lives with his mother Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani in Mumbai. He is Graduated (B.Sc. in Science) from K.C. College, Mumbai University and MBA at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. He is married to former actress Tina Munim and has two sons – Jai Anmol(23 Years) and Jai Anshul(19 Years). He has an elder brother Mr. Mukesh Ambani and two younger sisters Mrs. Dipti Salgaocar and Mrs. Nina Kothari.

Career

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is one of India’s leading business leaders and founder of the Reliance Group; whose constituent Business enterprises are engaged in pivotal roles in the ongoing economic transformation of India. He is the Chairman of the Reliance Group; including, Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power. He joined the company founded by his father Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1983 as co-chief executive officer and is credited with having pioneered many financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. He led India's first foray into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depository 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. He along with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, steered Reliance Industries to its current status as India's leading textiles, petroleum and petrochemicals company.

After the death of his father in 2002, Anil Ambani took over the reins of Reliance Group with interests in Telecom, Entertainment, Financial Services, Power and Infrastructure.^[10] Anil or Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADA), as he is often referred to by his colleagues, founded the Reliance Group in 2006 and in less than 10 years, the Reliance Group has built a leadership position in major growth sectors of the Indian economy, including Telecommunications, generation, transmission and distribution of renewable and non-renewable sources of power, national road highways, metro rail systems, cement, financial services, education, healthcare, media and entertainment. In 2008, Ambani is also credited with India's largest IPO of Reliance Power which was subscribed in less than 60-second on offer, fastest in the history of Indian capital markets till date.^[11]

Ambani made his debut into the entertainment industry with an acquisition of a majority stake in Adlabs Films in 2005, a company with interests in film processing, production, exhibition and digital cinema, the company was later renamed to Reliance MediaWorks in 2009.^[12][13][14] Thereafter he expanded his footprint in the industry to now become the largest producer of Bollywood films. In 2008 a joint venture worth US$1.2 billion with Steven Spielberg's production company DreamWorks cast Ambani's entertainment business on to a global platform.^[15] Through this tie up he has contributed to the production of a number of films with Steven Spielberg, including the Academy Award winning film Lincoln in 2012.^[16][17]

Awards and recognition

• Conferred the 'Businessman of the Year 1997' award by India's leading business magazine Business India, December 1997.^[18]
• Voted 'the Businessman of the Year' in a poll conducted by The Times of India – TNS, December 2006.^[19]
• Voted the 'Best role model' among business leaders in the biannual Mood of the Nation poll conducted by India Today magazine, August 2006.^[20]
• Conferred 'the CEO of the Year 2004' in the Platts Global Energy Awards.^[21]
• Conferred 'The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award' by the Bombay Management Association, October 2002.^[22]
• 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.^[23]
• Selected by Asiaweek magazine for its list of 'Leaders of the Millennium in Business and Finance' and was introduced as the only 'new hero' in Business and Finance from India, June 1999.^[24]

Bibliography

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

References

External links

• Profile at Reliance ADAG
• Profile at Forbes
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Anil Ambani collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Anil Ambani: collected news and commentary at The Times of India