Dhirubhai Ambani 1932-2002

1932-2002

Dhirubhai Ambani built India’s largest private sector company (now US$ 54 billon) and created the equity cult in the Indian capital market, harnessing the trust and savings of small investors. The Reliance Group which he founded is the first Indian company to win international acclaim. In just 25 years, he transformed his company into a global corporate group, a wealth creator whose turnover now reportedly weighs in at nearly three percent of India’s GDP. His life is a classic rags-toriches story. He was born Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani on December 28, 1932 at Chorwad, Gujarat to a school teacher. The young Dhirubhai reportedly began his entrepreneurial career by selling bhajia (vegetable fritters) to pilgrims at the holy place of Mount Girnar in Gujarat on weekends and holidays. After passing his matriculation at the age of 16. Dhirubhai Ambani found for himself a menial job in Aden, Yemen. He worked there as a gas station attendant and then as a clerk in an oil company. He returned to India in 1958 with Rs. 50, 000 and set up a textile trading company. A risk taker; Dhirubhai Ambani constantly looked for new business opportunities. His wife Kokilaben recalls that he showed her an oil refinery while still a clerk and told her that he would build his own some day. He was to say later. “Growth has no limit at Reliance. I keep revising my vision. Only when you can dream it, can you do it”. Assisted by his two sons, Mukesh and Anil. Dhirubhai Ambani built Reliance India Limited from scratch. Over time, his business diversified from textiles into a core specialization in petrochemicals with additional interests in the telecommunication, information technology, energy, power, retail, infrastructure services, capital markets and logistics. Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with shaping India’s equity culture, attracting millions of investors in a market dominated until then by financial institutions. Dhirubhai Ambani single-handedly revolutionized capital markets. Started from scratch, he generated billions of rupees in wealth for those who put their trust in his companies. His bold innovations helped create an ‘equity cult’ in the Indian capital market. Through hitherto un-utilized instruments like the convertible debenture. Reliance rapidly became a favourite of the Indian stock market in the 1980s. His shareholders’ meetings were famously held in football fields. In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company to raise money in global markets, its high credit rating in international markets limited only by India’s sovereign rating. Reliance also became the first Indian company to feature in the prestigious Forbes 500 list. Dhirubhai Ambani was honoured as the ‘Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century’ by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). A public opinion poll conducted by The times of India in 2000 voted him ‘the greatest creator of wealth in India in the 20th Century’. He said of his entrepreneurship: “Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly. ”Dhirubhai Ambani died on July 6, 2002 at Mumbai.