Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani commonly

known as Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 28 December 1932, at Chorwad, Junagadh in Gujarat. When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. Initially, Dhirubhai worked as a dispatch clerk with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300 Later married to Kokilaben. Dhirubhai also worked in Dubai for sometime. After returning to India, Dhirubhai set up the business in partnership with Champaklal Damani from whom he parted ways in 1965.

 Ethnicity: Gujarati Family Background: Not a rich or famous family. Second son to Hirachand Gordhandhas Ambani and Jamnaben. Education: Ambani disliked school lessons and chose to do physical work instead. Residence: Sea wind,Cuffee Parade Religion:Hinduism(Vaishnav Modh Bania) Children: Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Nina Kothari, Deepti Salgaonkar. He founded the Reliance Commercial Corporation with an initial capital of Rs 15000/-.

Life in Aden (1949-1958)

Just after Dhirubhai was through his annual matriculation examination, Dhirubhai had really wanted to study for a bachelor's degree, but his ambition melted. He then joined as a clerk with the A. Besse & Co, Aden. Those days Aden was the second busiest trading and oil bunkering port in the world after London handling over 6,300 ships and 1,500 dhows a year. Their he learnt the ways of commodity trading, high seas purchase and sales, marketing and distribution, currency trading, and money management. In addition, to learn the tricks of the trade he offered to work free for a Gujarati trading firm. There he learnt accounting, book keeping, preparing shipping papers and documents, and dealing with banks and insurance companies.

 After he thought he had learnt the basics of commodities trading, Dhirubhai began speculating in high seas purchase and sales of all sorts of goods. For that he borrowed money from friends and small Aden shopkeepers to carry such speculative trading. "Profit we share and all loss will be mine" became his motto.

By the late 1950s it became clear that the British rule in Aden would not last long in the face of growing Yemeni movement for independence supported by Gamal Abdel Nasser's revolutionary government from across the Suez. The large Indian community of Hindu and Parsee Guajarati's began preparing to move out of Aden. Aden Indians those days were allowed to settle in Britain. Dhirubhai was then 26 years (1957), full of youthful vigor and vitality, and filled with high hopes for himself and for the new India of Nehru's dreams. He then decided to return India , instead of going to London to live a life of ease there.

Career Graph of Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani founded Reliance Industries in 1958. After that it was a story of expansions and success. 1958 - Moved to Mumbai to start his own business "Majin 1965 - Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Dhirubhai started on his own. 1977 - Started his first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad 1982 - Ambani began the process of backward integration He then diversified into chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, power. The final phase of Reliances diversification occurred in the 1990 when the company turned aggressively towards petrochemicals and telecommunications.

Majin Commercial Corporation

Ten years later, Dhirubhai Ambani returned to India and started "Majin" in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who used to be with him in Aden, Yemen. Majin was to import polyester yarn and export spices to Yemen. The first office of the Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up at the Narsinatha Street in Masjid Bunder. In 1965, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Dhirubhai started on his own. While Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn inventories, Dhirubhai was a known risk-taker and believed in building inventories, anticipating a price rise, and making profits. Ambani's net worth was estimated at about 1 million by late 1970s.

Reliance Textiles
Sensing a good opportunity in the textile business, Dhirubhai Ambani, along with Amit Mehra, a Delhi-based chartered accountant and company secretary residing in Ashok Vihar, Delhi, started the first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1966.

Dhirubhai started the brand "Vimal", which was named after his elder brother Ramaniklal Ambani's son, Vimal Ambani.
In the year 1975, a Technical team from the World Bank visited the Reliance Textiles' Manufacturing unit. This unit has the rare distinction of being certified as "excellent even by developed country standards" during that period.

Initial public offering

Dhirubhai Ambani is awarded with starting the equity cult in India. More than 58,000 investors from various parts of India subscribed to Reliance's IPO (Initial public offering) in 1977.

In 1986, the annual general meeting of Reliance Industries had number of first-time retail investors investing in Reliance.
Ambani's net worth was estimated at about 1 billion by early 1980s.

Diversification
Ambani began the process of backward integration, setting up a plant to manufacture polyester filament yarn.

He subsequently diversified into chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, power. The company as a whole was described by the BBC as "a business empire with an estimated annual turnover of $12 billion, and an 85,000-strong workforce". The final phase of Reliances diversification occurred in the 1990s when the company turned aggressively towards petrochemicals and telecommunications.

Criticism
Dhirubhai courted controversy all throughout his life. Many a times, he has been accused of unethical business practices and has been accused of having manipulated government policies to suit his own needs. He was involved in an open spat with Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing. The end to this tussle came only after Dhirubhai Ambani suffered a stroke. While Dhirubhai Ambani was recovering in San Diego, his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani managed the affairs.

 The Indian Express had turned the guns against Reliance and was directly blaming the government for not doing enough to penalize Reliance Industries. The battle between Wadia - Goenka and the Ambanis took a new direction and became a national crisis. Gurumurthy and another journalist, Mulgaokar consorted with President Giani Zail Singh and ghost-wrote a hostile letter to the Prime Minister on his behalf. The Indian Express published a draft of the President's letter as a scoop, not realizing that Zail Singh had made changes to the letter before sending it to Rajiv Gandhi.

Ambani had won the battle at this point. Now, while the tussle was directly between the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Ramnath Goenka, Ambani made a quiet exit.

Dhirubhai Ambani's awards

Dhirubhai did not win any Indian Government awards for civilians.
November 2000 Conferred '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

June 1998 - Dean's Medal by The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, for setting an outstanding example of leadership. Dhirubhai Ambani has the rare distinction of being the first Indian to get Wharton School Dean's Medal.
August 2001 Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievement Dhirubhai Ambani was named the Man of 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 Centuries". He is the true son of India Dhirubhai Ambani won many words and accolades during his life. In November 2000, he was conferred the 'Man of the Century' award by Chemtech Foundation and Chemical Engineering World for his contribution to the growth and development of the chemical industry in India.

Death of Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a major stroke. This was his second stroke, the first one had occurred in February 1986 and had kept his right hand paralyzed. He was in a state of coma for more than a week. He died on July 6, 2002, at around 11:50 P.M.

Reliance after Dhirubhai Ambani

In November 2004, Mukesh Ambani in an interview, admitted to having differences with his brother Anil over 'ownership issues.' He also said that the differences "are in the private domain." On June 18, 2005, Kokilaben Ambani announced the settlement through a press release.
With the blessings of Srinathji, I have today amicably resolved the issues between my two sons, Mukesh and Anil, keeping in mind the proud legacy of my husband, Dhirubhai Ambani.

I am confident that both Mukesh and Anil, will resolutely uphold the values of their father and work towards protecting and enhancing value for over three million shareholders of the Reliance Group, which has been the foundational principle on which my husband built India's largest private sector enterprise.
Mukesh will have the responsibility for Reliance Industries and IPCL while Anil will have responsibility for Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy and Reliance Capital.

My husband's foresight and vision and the values he stood for combined with my blessings will guide them to scale new heights.

Kokilaben Ambani

RELIANCE Group
The Reliance empire was split between the Ambani brothers, Mukesh Ambani getting RIL and IPCL & his younger sibling Anil Ambani heading Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Infocomm. The entity headed by Mukesh Ambani is referred to as the Reliance Industries Limited whereas Anil's Group has been renamed Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADA Group).

Reliance Institute of Life Sciences, a Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation Initiative, was established to promote higher education in various fields of life sciences and related technologies

 Type: Public Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Key people: Mukesh Ambani (Chairman & MD) Revenue US$ 58.55 billion (2012) Income US$ 4.54 billion (2012) Assets US$ 63.84 billion (2012) Equity US$ 34.12 billion (2011) Employees22,661 (2012)

Products
Polyester Petrochemicals Textiles

Petroleum

Retail

Oil & Gas

Reliance Industries Limited

Telecom

Subsidiaries & Associates

Reliance Life Sciences

Infotel Broadban d Ltd

Relicord

Reliance Industries Limited

Reliance Solar

Reliance Industrial Infrastruct ure Ltd

Reliance Logistics

Reliance Clinical Research Services

 Type: Private Key people: Anil Ambani ( Chairman) Headquarters: Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Center, Navi Mumbai,Maharastra, India Revenue: US$15.4 billion (2012) Total assets: US$29 billion(2012) Employees: 120,000 (2012)

Products
Communi cations BPO Infrastruc ture

Health Care

Reliance ADA Group

Financial Services

Petroche micals Natural Resources Power

Entertain ment

Thank You
CORPORATE GURU Dhirubhai Ambani