Mukesh Ambani
| Mukesh Ambani मुकेश अंबानी | |
| Born | |
| Residence | |
| Nationality | |
| Occupation | |
| Net worth | |
| Religion | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Akash, Anant, Isha[3] |
| Relatives | |
Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born on 19 April 1957) is an Indian business magnate is the current chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries,[4] the largest private sectorenterprise in India, a Fortune 500 company,[5] and one of the largest private sectorconglomerates in the world. His personal stake in Reliance Industries is 48%.[6]
In 2010, he was named among the most powerful people in the world by Forbes in its list of "68 people who matter most"[7] As of 2011, he is the second richest man in Asia[8] and theninth richest man in the world with a personal wealth of US$27 billion. In 2007, a strong rally in the Indian stock market and the appreciation of the Indian rupee boosted the market capitalisation of Reliance group companies, briefly making him the world’s richest man.[9][10][11] According to Forbes Magazine forecasts, he is expected to regain the title of the richest man in the world in 2014.[12][13]
He is a member of the board of directors of Bank of America Corporation and a present member of the international advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations.[14][15][16]
| Contents |
Early life and education
Mukesh Ambani is the eldest son of Dhirubhai Ambani, the late founder of Reliance Industries.[17] He has a brother, Anil, and two sisters.
The Ambani family lived in a two bedroom apartment in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai until the 1970s.[18] Dhirubhai Ambani then purchased a 14-floor apartment block called 'Sea Wind' inColaba, where, until recently, Mukesh and Anil each lived with their families on different floors.[19]
Anil Ambani is also a billionaire and owns a competing company, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The two brothers have had clashes over business.
Career
He joined Reliance Industries in 1981.[20] He initiated Reliance's backward integration journey from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals, petroleum refining and going up-stream into oil and gas exploration and production.
Ambani set up one of the largest and most complex information and communications technology initiatives in the world in the form of Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited).
Ambani directed and led the creation of the world’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, India, with a current capacity of 660,000 barrels per day (33 million tonnes per year) integrated with petrochemicals, power generation, port and related infrastructure.[21]
Awards and Honours
| Year of Award or Honor | Name of Award or Honor | Awarding Organization |
| 2010 | School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean's Medal | |
| 2007 | United States-India Business Council Leadership Award | United States-India Business Council. |
| 2007 | Chitralekha Person of the Year Award | |
| 2004 | World Communication Award |
§ London, November 2004: He was Ranked 42nd among the World's Most Respected Business Leaders and second among the four Indian CEOs featured in a survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and published in Financial Times.
§ September 2004: He was Chosen Telecom Man of the Year 2004 by Voice and Data magazine.
§ He is ranked 13th in Asia's Power 25 list of The Most Powerful
KG-D6 Gas Controversy
In it's leaked[22] Draft Report (2010-2011), the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) first ever audit of oil and gas companies operating in India, said that the Government of India unduly favoured private oil and natural gas explorers including the Mukesh Ambani-ledReliance Industries Ltd incurring a huge loss to the exchequer. The CAG report mentioned that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas(MOP&NG) and its regulatory arm - the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) - allegedly favoured at least three private oil and natural gas explorers. The report alleges that the government allowed Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to violate terms of its contract with the government for exploration in the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG-D6). The CAG report also stated that the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons had allowed RIL to violate norms.The violation of terms, in turn, helped Reliance Industries Ltd increase its capital expenditure plan to start production from the Krisha-Godavari basin. Allegedly, 70% of the draft Comptroller and Auditor General of India report is devoted to Reliance Industries Ltd alone.[23]
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been accused of providing “huge” and “undue benefit” to Reliance Industries Ltd — the Comptroller and Auditor General has indicted the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for allowing “irregularities and bending rules” to “oblige” RIL in the Krishna Godavari basin gas fields, leading to a massive and as yet “unquantifiable” loss to the national exchequer. In its 193-page Draft Report on production sharing contracts (PSCs) in the oil and gas field , the CAG exposes the “close nexus” between RIL and the “bureaucrats” working in the Petroleum Ministry as well as its Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. This allowed RIL to retain its entire offshore acreage, rather than surrendering those areas where it had not found oil or gas so that the government could invite fresh bids from other companies.[24]
The CAG sent its Draft Report to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG) on June 8, 2011. The CAG report also noted that former Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) permitted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to inflate its development costs on extracting the gas in the D6 block to the KG basin (KG-D6) from USD $2.47 billion to a huge USD $ 8.84 billion. The CAG also cited a joint venture of RIL with British Gas(BG) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC) for hiking development costs in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti gas fields. It has been earlier been alleged that an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had allowed Reliance Industries Ltd to sell per unit of the gas at a price of INR Rs. 4.20 even as the government companies were selling the same for just INR Rs. 1.20.[25]
The alleged modus operandi was to submit a bid which shows a certain capital cost and during the operation of the contract, inflate the capital cost by a huge amount with the connivance of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG).[26]
On the 24th of June, 2011, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairperson Mukesh Ambani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh amid accusations of his company increasing capital expenditure and violating terms of contracts with the Government of India. Ambani met the PM in the wake of the Draft Report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that had alleged that RIL received favours from the Ministry of Petroleum and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the regulator for oil hunting companies. RIL had also obtained portions of the CAG Draft Report after it made a request to the Ministry of Petroleum.[27]
Personal life
He is married to Nita Ambani and has three children, Akash, Anant and Isha.[28] He owns the Indian Premier League team, the Mumbai Indians.
They live in a private 27 story building in Mumbai named Antilia.[29] It is estimated to be valued at over US$1 Billion to build. It is claimed to be the most expensive home in history
