In a move viewed as succession planning by the 65-year-old billionaire, Mukesh Ambani has resigned from the board of Reliance Jio, his group’s telecom arm. According to a stock exchange filing, Reliance Jio Infocomm’s board approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the company’s board of directors. Earlier, Mukesh Ambani resigned with effect from June 27.
Some quick fact’s about Mukesh Ambani.
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1957 – Dhirubhai Ambani returns from Yemen, and starts a small yarn trading company in Mumbai that he subsequently turns into a successful textile business.
1977 – IPO of Reliance Textile Industries takes place.
1980 – He drops from his MBA program at Stanford University to come back to India.
1985 – The company was renamed Reliance Industries Ltd.
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2002 – Dhirubhai Ambani passes away at the age of 69 without a will, leading to a battle between Mukesh and his brother Anil for control of Reliance’s business empire.
July 31, 2002 – Mukesh is announced as chairman of the Reliance Group of Industries, and Anil is named as vice-chairman and MD.
November 2004 – Mukesh Ambani admits “ownership issues” at Reliance during an interview with CNBC TV18.
June 18, 2005 – Kokilaben Ambani divides assets between her sons splitting the $23 billion Reliance Group into two parts. Mukesh gets control of the company’s main oil and petrochemicals assets and textiles along with Reliance Industries, while Anil gets control of newer ventures of reliance, including telecom and digital businesses. Though separate entities, both companies will carry their business in the Reliance name.
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2008 – For a reported $111 million, Ambani and his wife, Nita, purchase the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
2010 – RIL established the non-profit Reliance Foundation in 2010 to support its philanthropic initiatives.
May 7, 2010 – The Supreme Court rules in favor of Mukesh Ambani’s RIL over Anil Ambani’s company, ordering a six-week renegotiating of natural gas supply rates.
September 5, 2016 – Mukesh Ambani launches Reliance Jio offering customers six months of free high-speed internet. The move triggers a brutal price war, which pushed some companies out of the telecom market altogether.
March 2019 – Mukesh helps pay off a 5.5 billion rupees ($80 million) debt of Anil that India’s top court had ordered Anil Ambani and his company, Reliance Communications, pay or go to jail for three months.
March-November 2020 – Facebook invests $5.7 billion and Google invests $4.5 billion in Jio Platforms. Founded in 2016, Jio has now gathered around 400 million users and has launched a streaming service, a video conferencing app, and a fiber broadband network.
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April 30, 2020 – Ambani announces that he won’t be taking home a salary until the impact of the coronavirus pandemic eases.
February 25, 2021 – Outside Ambani’s Mumbai home, an explosives-laden car was found. On March 14, 2021, Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze is arrested for his suspected involvement.
June 2022 – Mukesh Ambani resign as the chairman and MD of the Reliance Jio and named Akash as his successor.
