1. Introduction

    Dhirubhai Ambani took his first steps into entrepreneurship at the age of 17 in Aden, British India, when he hit on the idea to establish a shipping company. His partner in that venture was his brother Anshuman.

In the first three decades of their business, Dhirubhai and Anshuman were responsible for developing and launching more than 150 vessels and carrying over 6 million tons of cargo.

Today, Dhirubhai is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a leading diversified conglomerate with assets worth $100 billion, including assets in power generation, oil & gas exploration, and refining, steel manufacturing, aerospace & defense, real estate & infrastructure development.

 Dhirubhai Ambani is known as one of India’s most successful businessmen. He started his career as an engineer with Tata Steel Corporation, later moving on to become its chairman. He is also a  chief executive officer (CEO) of RIL in India; chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a leading diversified conglomerate with assets worth $100 billion; national chairman and managing director of Indian Oil Corporation Limited; chairman & managing director of Oil India Limited; Chairman-cum-Founder-CEO Ruchira Amrit Kishore Cement Company; Chairman-cum-Founder-CEO Fertiliser Development Corporation Ltd.; Chairman-cum-Founder Manipal Group Ltd.; Chairman-cum-Founder Sahara Infratech Ltd.; Managing Director Softbank Corp., Japan’s largest Internet company; Chairman and Managing Director Emeritus SIRIC Holdings Ltd.; Founder PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP LLP (PwC) in the United States; Founder Tata Sons LLP LLP (Tata Sons) in India; Founding Partner The Khaitan Company LLP (Khaitan Capital Partners) in New York City; Founding Member The International Advisory Board for EntreMed Advisors LLC

    : Boin at Mumbai on April 1,2th 1947 to merchant parents Dhirubhai Damodar Ambani and Rekhta Bina Ambani, he has two younger brothers – Anil Kishan, who is a banker by profession, and Kamal Nath, who has worked as a lawyer. He was educated at St Xavier's College in Mumbai, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce. In 1968 he joined Tata Steel as an assistant controller after failing to complete his MBA course. He rose through the ranks

 

2. Personal Background

Dhirubhai Ambani was born December 16, 193,7 in, a middle-class family of Gujarat, India. His father, Babuji Amarnath Ambani was an educationist who had served as the principal of a school for over 35 years and was appointed the principal of the Sindhi High School in Ahmedabad in 1950. Dhirubhai later went on to become a master teacher after graduating from the Government College of Education and the Indian Institute of Technology.

Ambani’s brother Ravi Shanker is also a well-known Indian film actor and singer.

In 1956, Dhirubhai returned to India and started working for Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), when his brother Ravi Shanker made his first appearance in advertisements for this company. Dhirubhai worked as a technical advisor for several advertising campaigns, including “Brando” (1958) and “In-Taki-Achhe” (1959). He then joined Reliance Communications Limited on its formation in 1962.

In 1991, Dhirubhai Ambani re-entered public life when he became chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., replacing Mukesh Ambani after his elder brother had become its chairman. Dhirubhai held that position until 2001, when he stepped down to become chairman emeritus, effectively retiring from his role at Reliance Industries Ltd. He was succeeded by Mukesh Ambani; however, Mukesh remained as the chief executive officer (CEO) at RIL after Dhirubhai stepped down from the post of Chairman Emeritus.

The total net worth of Ambani is around USD 10 billion at present, with about 1/5th owned by his children and 2/5th held by their companies only. The Forbes magazine has estimated that Dhirubhai owns about 1% stake in RIL which is valued at around USD 8 billion; which implies his net worth will be almost USD 1 billion at present or around $3 billion by December 2017 if not corrected for inflation-adjusted values; it will be expected to be higher than that due to current scenario wherein stock market has hit soft bottom levels due to strong earnings growth across various sectors and adverse global economic circumstances; therefore it is highly likely that he will increase his wealth even further now.

3. Career Development

Dhirubhai Ambani was born to Pandit Lata Shroff Mohanlal Ambani and Ranbir Singh Ambani, on March 1, 1935, in the village of Badkana in the Mandi district of Rajasthan.

He is the third of five children born to Pandit Lata Shroff and Ranbir Singh Ambani. His brothers are Rohit Kumar, Vyom Shankar La, and N Narayanan.

Dhirubhai Ambani has always been a very intelligent kid. He had a passion for science from childhood and was an accomplished scholar throughout his school years. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Symbiosis College in Ahmedabad in 1955 after winning an intercollege competition held by his college.

The reason why he won the competition is that he scored 76% marks out of 100% for his chemistry exam at Symbiosis College. Dhirubhai was inspired by a chemistry teacher at school who used to do experiments with rat droppings to prove how poisonous they were. Dhirubhai then decided that he wanted to be like him someday and became one too.

Dhirubhai's first job after graduating from Symbiosis College was as a laboratory assistant at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) between 1955 and 1959 before taking up a post as lecturer at the IICT in 1959-60. He was made an Honorary Fellow of IICT in December 1959 and appointed professor at IICT, Bombay thereafter, beginning with the academic year 1960-61.<br />In 1962 he joined Tata Steel Limited as Senior Manager concerned with research & development till 1967 when it merged with Tata Industries Ltd.<br />In 1968 Dhirubhai joined Tata Sons Ltd as Director-General & Managing Director & Managing Director-cum-Chairman (Research & Development) till 1981.<br />After that until 1984 he served as Chairman & Managing Director (Research & Development), then Chairman (research) and then President (research) of Tata Sons Ltd.<br /><br />In April 1982 Dhirubhai Ambani along with other senior managers formed Reliance Industries which is now India's second-biggest trial conglomerate.<br /><br />In October 1982 Dhirubhai joined Reliance Group where he remained until retiring around 2006, including being appointed chairman emeritus.<br /><br />In 1989 Dhirubhai received India's highest civilian award -- Padma Bhushan

4. The Dream of Becoming a Business Tycoon

Dhirubhai Ambani, born in 1950, is the founder and chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), one of India’s largest companies. He is also the 15th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $13 billion.

In 2001, Dhirubhai Ambani, son of late industrialist Jaswant Singh Ambani, was named as chairman and managing director at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the country’s largest private sector company. The family business is a major producer of petroleum products in India and one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies. RIL has a total marketcapitalizationn of over  $100 billion in 2011, making it the fourth-largest group behind ExxonMobil and Sony Corp., according to Forbes magazine.

Ambani was born on November 10, 1950, in the British Indian princely state of United Provinces to Birla family members. He had his initial education at Jamnagar Public School before going on to study science at Osmania University in Hyderabad. In 1976 he graduated from Osmania University with an MSc degree in physics while working for ICRA Ltd., a petroleum exploration company founded by his grandfather Motilal Janji.

He began working for his grandfather as an engineer within six months when he was only 17 years old. In 1979 he became a part-time lecturer at Osmania University where he taught physics for two years before moving on to become an assistant professor there for four years after that.

He then moved on to set up the university’s Physics Department and continued teaching there until 1992 when he left to establish Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). He worked as senior technical director at RIL from 1986 to 1992 while completing his MSc degree at Osmania University between 1980 and 1983 under guidance from Motilal Jainji who introduced him on behalf of ICRA Ltd., which was controlled by his ancestors Jainaji Group.

After graduating from Osmania University with an MSc degree in physics Dhirubhai joined ICRA Ltd., where he worked as an engineer until 1985 when he moved on to take over control of RIL following Motilal Jainji’s death.

Dhirubhai started RIL by joining ICRA Ltd., the company owned by his grandfather Jainji Group, which was already one of India’s biggest oil companies when it merged with National Oil Companies Ltd

5. Family Life


Dhirubhai Ambani is the third of five children born to a teacher and his wife, and he grew up in a poor family.

At the age of 17, he moved to the British colony of Aden to join his brother. Dhirubhai was an avid collector and had a passion for cars, especially foreign supercars.

He worked as an engineer for his father’s company, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), from 1999 onwards. He was one of the first workers at Reliance Industries when he was just 26 years old.

In 2005, Dhirubhai became Chairman of RIL and served in that position till 2008. He also became CEO in 2011.

Dhirubhai Ambani has been ranked as the 88th richest Indian by Forbes magazine in 2016 with an estimated net worth of $1$14 billion making him India’s richest person followed by Mukesh Ambani who is at number 19 with an estimated net worth of 11 billion dollars making him India’s second-richest person after Ambani family members with their net worth close to $10 billion each, while Mukesh Ambani is ranked at number 6th with an estimated net worth of 8 billion dollars making him India’s richest man. He is also one of Asia’s most widely known business tycoons.

6. Conclusion

Dhirubhai Ambani, industrialist, billionaire, and philanthropist is an Indian industrialist who is the founder of Reliance Industries Limited. He was born Dhirubhai Ambani on 27th February 1950. He had attended the St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, where he met his future wife Sajida Khanikoe Ambani.

Dhirubhai Ambani was offered a job to work for Tata Steel at the age of 15 and joined there as a sweeper, but after three years, he quit and started working for an insulation company.

In 1973 at the age of 22, Dhirubhai Ambani became the Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). The company started operating in 1975 with a capitalization of Rs 2 lakhs and grew to become one of India’s largest cement manufacturers by 1997. In 1993, RIL started its first overseas venture by opening a plant in Bhadla to manufacture polyester fibers for clothing fabrics.

In 2009, Dhirubhai Ambani became super chairman of RIL after his elder brother Anil died at age 87 on 13th January 2009.


By: Md. Aamir Aman 

The writer is the director of Ruzhn English Language Bugh Meeri

Turbat Kech Balochistan