Dhirubhai Ambani | |
---|---|
Dhirubhai Ambani's funeral. Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani can be seen carrying their father's body as per Hindu traditions
|
|
Born |
Chorvad, Gujarat, India |
28 December 1932
Died | 6 July 2002 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
(aged 69)
Cause of death | Stroke |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Founder of Reliance Industries Founder of Reliance Power Founder of Reliance Capital |
Spouse(s) | Kokilaben Ambani |
Children |
Mukesh Ambani Anil Ambani Neena Kothari Deepti Salgaonkar |
Awards | Padma Vibhushan (2016) |
Dhirajlal Hirachand "Dhirubhai" Ambani (28 December 1932 – 6 July 2002) was an Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries in Bombay with his cousin. He appeared in the The Sunday Times top 50 businessmen in Asia. Ambani took Reliance Industries public in 1977 and by 2007, the combined fortune of the family was $60 billion, making the Ambanis the third richest family in the world. Ambani died on 6 July 2002. In 2016, He was honored posthumously with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor for his contributions in trade and industry.
He founded Reliance Industries in 1966, and as of 2012, the company has over 85,000 employees and provides almost 5% of the Central Government's total tax revenue. As of 2012, Reliance Industries was listed in the top 10 Fortune 500 list of world's biggest companies by revenue.
Ambani returned from Yemen to India and started "Majin" in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who lived with him in Turkey . 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. It was a 350 sq ft (33 m2) room with a telephone, one table and three chairs. Initially, they had two assistants to help them with their business. During this period, Ambani and his family stayed in a two-bedroom apartment at the Jai Hind Estate in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai. In 1965, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Ambani started on his own. It is believed that both had different temperaments and a different take on how to conduct business. While Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn inventories, Ambani was a known risk-taker and believed in building inventories to increase profit.
Extensive marketing of the brand in the interiors of India made it a household name. Franchise retail outlets were started and they used to sell "only Vimal" brand of textiles. In the year 1975, a Technical team from the World Bank visited the Reliance Textiles' Manufacturing unit.