Mukesh Ambani was born on April 19, 1957 in Yemen. His father is the Late Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the Reliance group. Anil Ambani was born on June 4,1959 and is Mukesh’s younger brother with the same parentage. Mukesh Ambani is married to Nita Ambani and they have three children while Anil is married to Tina Ambani, former Bollywood actress, they have 2 children.
Career
Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and initiated Reliance’s backward integration from textiles into polyester fibers and further into petrochemicals. In this process, he directed the creation of 60 new, world-class manufacturing facilities involving diverse technologies that increased Reliance’s manufacturing capacities from less than a million tons to twelve
million tons per year. He directed and led the creation of the world’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, with a present capacity of 660,000 barrels per day (33 million tons per year) integrated with petrochemicals, power generation, port and related infrastructure, at an investment of Rs 100000 crore (nearly $26 billion USD). Mukesh Ambani set up one of the largest telecommunications companies in India in the form of Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm) Limited.
Anil Ambani
Anil Ambani joined Reliance in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and is credited with having pioneered many financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. For example, he led India’s first forays into overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and bonds. He directed Reliance in its efforts to raise, since 1991, around US$2 billion from overseas financial markets; with a 100-year Yankee bond issue in January 1997 being the high point. After which people regarded him as a Financial Wizard. He has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India’s leading textiles, petroleum, petrochemicals, power, and telecom company.
The Feud between the brothers
Dhirubhai Ambani didn’t leave a will. So, after his death Mukesh became the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd Anil was made the vice-chairman. This started the feud between the brothers to take control of the Ambani empire, and matters turned worse when Mukesh tried to remove Anil from the Reliance board. The differences between the brothers became public, things were not always like this, Anil used to look up to Mukesh and was happy in letting Mukesh running the company, He did not dispute Mukesh’s position or chairmanship but wanted some credible space for himself.
The Split
In June 2005, the feud between the brothers was settled when their mother Kokilaben intervened and arranged a demerger. This led to the largest split in the history of India, the 99 thousand crores empire was divided between the 2 brothers. Mukesh took the control of flagship Reliance Industries & IPCL, with interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas exploration, refining and textiles. Anil got Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy & Reliance Capital. The wealth was equally divided amongst the brothers. By March 2006, with the consolidation of his telecom companies Anil Ambani had toppled Mukesh Ambani in net worth, to be the 3rd richest Indian after Laxmi Mittal & Azim Premji. Anil was richer than Mukesh by approximately Rs. 550 crores.
The Present
After the split, Mukesh has been more successful than Anil, as of now the difference of wealth between the brothers is $ 52 Billion. Mukesh Ambani’s net worth is over $ 50 Billion whereas Anil Ambani’s net worth is $ 2 Billion.
The Debt
In November 2017, Mukesh’s Reliance Industries debt had doubled to Rs 1,96,601 crore in the last five years as it invested telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. The company raised $ 800 million with the sale of 10-year bonds overseas at the cheapest rate for a non-financial Indian issue. Meanwhile Anil’s, Reliance Infrastructure debt was at Rs. 28,000 Crore, Reliance Communications was Rs. 45,000 Crore & Reliance Power Reliance Power is at Rs. 30,000 Crore debt. But Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications, defaulted on dollar bond payments. While Mukesh Ambani during the last 12 years started new ventures like Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio and expanded his core oil & gas business under Reliance Industries, which now generate over $5 billion in net profit annually. In the meantime, Anil Ambani lost money in his telecom venture and expanded into unrelated businesses like infrastructure and defence manufacturing which cost him a lot landed him in huge debt.
The Rescue
Mukesh Ambani came to the rescue of his younger brother Anil Ambani and helped him pay off his telecom venture Reliance Communication’s Rs 462 crore dues to Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson, this move saved Anil from going to jail. According to the Supreme Court verdict, Anil Ambani would’ve faced a three-month jail term if the money had not been paid by March 19. In a statement on Monday (March 18, 2019) junior Ambani thanked his brother Mukesh Ambani and sister-in-law Nita Ambani for standing by him during his difficult times and demonstrating the importance of staying true to our
strong family values by extending this timely support.
Also Read: Here’s How Ambanis Managed All The Stellar Cast From Around The World At Their Wedding
