Dhirubhai Ambani

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Dhirubhai Ambani
Born
28 December 1932
Chorwad, Guarat, !ndia
Died
" #uly 2$$2 %a&ed "9'
(umbai, !ndia
Cause of death )troke
Nationality !ndian
Ethnicity Guarati *ai+hna, (odh
-1.

Occupation
Founder of /eliance !ndu+trie+
Founder of /eliance 0ower
Founder of /eliance Capital
Religion 1indui+m
Spouse(s) 2okilaben 3mbani
Children
(uke+h 3mbani
3nil 3mbani
4ina 2othari
Deepti )al&aonkar
0rabhuai
Dhiralal !irachand Ambani %28 December 1932 5 " #uly 2$$2', better known a+
Dhirubhai Ambani, wa+ an !ndian bu+ine++ tycoon who founded /eliance !ndu+trie+ in
6ombay with hi+ cou+in7 1e fi&ured in The Sunday Times li+t of top 8$ bu+ine++men in
3+ia7
-2.
3mbani took /eliance !ndu+trie+ public in 1999, and by 2$$9 the combined
fortune of the family wa+ :"$ billion, makin& the 3mbani+ the +econd riche+t family in
the world7 3mbani died on " #uly 2$$27
-3.
Contents
1 ;arly career
2 (ain& Corporation
3 3mbani<+ control o,er +tock e=chan&e
> Death
8 /eliance after 3mbani
" 0opular in media
9 3ward+ and reco&nition+
8 /eference and note+
9 ;=ternal link+
Early career
3mbani +tarted with rupee 1 in hi+ hand and earned money by workin& with a firm in
?emen in the 198$+ and mo,ed to (umbai in 1988 to +tart hi+ own bu+ine++ in +pice+7
3fter makin& mode+t profit+, he mo,ed into te=tile+ and opened a mill in 4aroda
indu+trial area of 3hmedabad7 1e founded /eliance !ndu+trie+ in 19"", and a+ of 2$12,
the company ha+ o,er 88,$$$ employee+ and pro,ide+ almo+t 8@ of the Central
Go,ernment<+ total ta= re,enue7 3+ of 2$12, /eliance !ndu+trie+ wa+ li+ted amon& top
Fortune 8$$ li+t of world<+ bi&&e+t companie+ by re,enue+7,
->.
"aing Corporation
Dhirubhai ambani returned from ?emen to !ndia and +tarted A(ainA in partner+hip with
Champaklal Damani, hi+ +econd cou+in,
-8.
who li,ed with him in 3den, ?emen7 (ain
wa+ to import polye+ter yarn and e=port +pice+ to ?emen7
-".
Bhe fir+t office of the
/eliance Commercial Corporation wa+ +et up at the 4ar+inatha )treet in (a+id 6under7
!t wa+ a 38$ +C ft %33 m
2
' room with a telephone, one table and three chair+7 !nitially, they
had two a++i+tant+ to help them with their bu+ine++7 Durin& thi+ period, 3mbani and hi+
family +tayed in a twoDbedroom apartment at the #ai 1ind ;+tate in 6hule+hwar, (umbai7
-9.
!n 19"8, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai 3mbani ended their partner+hip and
3mbani +tarted on hi+ own7 !t i+ belie,ed that both had different temperament+ and a
different take on how to conduct bu+ine++7
-citation needed.
While Damani wa+ a cautiou+ trader
and did not belie,e in buildin& yarn in,entorie+, 3mbani wa+ a known ri+kDtaker and
belie,ed in buildin& in,entorie+, anticipatin& a price ri+e, and make lot+ of profit7
Ambani#s control o$er stoc% e&change
;=ten+i,e marketin& of the brand A*imalA in the interior+ of !ndia made it a hou+ehold
name7 Franchi+e retail outlet+ were +tarted and they u+ed to +ell Aonly *imalA brand of
te=tile+7 !n the year 1998, a Bechnical team from the World 6ank ,i+ited the /eliance
Be=tile+< (anufacturin& unit7
!n 1982, /eliance !ndu+trie+ came up a&ain+t a ri&ht+ i++ue re&ardin& partly con,ertible
debenture+7
-8.
!t wa+ rumored that the company wa+ makin& all effort+ to en+ure that their
+tock price+ did not +lide an inch7 )en+in& an opportunity, Bhe 6ear Cartel, a &roup of
+tock broker+ from Calcutta, +tarted to +hort +ell the +hare+ of /eliance7 Bo counter thi+, a
&roup of +tock broker+ until recently referred to a+ AFriend+ of /elianceA +tarted to buy
the +hort +old +hare+ of /eliance !ndu+trie+ on the 6ombay )tock ;=chan&e7
Bhe 6ear Cartel wa+ actin& on the belief that the 6ull+ would be +hort of ca+h to complete
the tran+action+ and would be ready for +ettlement under the "Badla" tradin& +y+tem
operati,e in the 6ombay )tock ;=chan&e7 Bhe bull+ kept buyin& and a price of 182 per
+hare wa+ maintained until the day of +ettlement7 En the day of +ettlement, the 6ear
Cartel wa+ taken aback when the 6ull+ demanded a phy+ical deli,ery of +hare+7 Bo
complete the tran+action, the much money wa+ pro,ided to the +tock broker+ who had
bou&ht +hare+ of /eliance, by Dhirubhai 3mbani7 !n the ca+e of nonD+ettlement, the 6ull+
demanded an Unbadla, or penalty +um, of 38 per +hare7 With thi+, the demand increa+ed
and the +hare+ of /eliance +hot abo,e 18$ in minute+7 Bhe +ettlement cau+ed an
enormou+ uproar in the market7
-citation needed.
Bo find a +olution to thi+ +ituation, the 6ombay )tock ;=chan&e wa+ clo+ed for three
bu+ine++ day+7 3uthoritie+ from the 6ombay )tock ;=chan&e %6);' inter,ened in the
matter and brou&ht down the AFnbadlaA rate to 2 with a +tipulation that the 6ear Cartel
had to deli,er the +hare+ within the ne=t few day+7 Bhe 6ear Cartel bou&ht +hare+ of
/eliance from the market at hi&her price le,el+ and it wa+ al+o learnt that Dhirubhai
3mbani him+elf +upplied tho+e +hare+ to the 6ear Cartel and earned a healthy profit out
of Bhe 6ear Cartel<+ ad,enture7
-9.
3fter thi+ incident, many Cue+tion+ were rai+ed by hi+ detractor+ and the pre++7 4ot many
people were able to under+tand a+ to how a yarn trader until a few year+ a&o wa+ able to
&et in +uch a hu&e amount of ca+h flow durin& a cri+i+ period7 Bhe an+wer to thi+ wa+
pro,ided by the then finance mini+ter, 0ranab (ukheree in the 0arliament7 1e informed
the hou+e that a 4onD/e+ident !ndian had in,e+ted up to 22$ million in /eliance durin&
1982D837 Bhe+e in,e+tment+ were routed throu&h many companie+ like Crocodile, Gota
and Fia+co7 Bhe+e companie+ were primarily re&i+tered in !+le of (an7 Bhe intere+tin&
factor wa+ that all the promoter+ or owner+ of the+e companie+ had a common +urname
)hah7 3n in,e+ti&ation by the /e+er,e 6ank of !ndia in the incident did not find any
unethical or ille&al act+ or tran+action+ committed by /eliance or it+ promoter+7
-1$.
Death
'inal (ourney) Dhirubhai 3mbani<+ funeral +aw thou+and+ of people attendin&7 (uke+h
3mbani and 3nil 3mbani can be +een carryin& their father<+ body a+ per 1indu tradition+
Dhirubhai 3mbani wa+ admitted to the 6reach Candy 1o+pital in (umbai on 2> #une
2$$2 after he +uffered a maor +troke7 !t wa+ hi+ +econd +troke, the fir+t one had occurred
in February 198" and had paralyHed hi+ ri&ht hand7 1e wa+ in a coma for more than a
week and a number of doctor+ were con+ulted7 1e died on " #uly 2$$27
Bhe country ha+ lo+t iconic proof of what an ordinary !ndian fired by the +pirit of
enterpri+e and dri,en by determination can achie,e in hi+ own lifetime7
-11.
I 3tal 6ihari *apayee, Former Prime Minister of India
Bhi+ new +tar, which ro+e on the horiHon of the !ndian indu+try three decade+ a&o,
remained on the top until the end by ,irtue of hi+ ability to dream bi& and tran+late it into
reality throu&h the +tren&th of hi+ tenacity and per+e,erance7
! oin the people of (ahara+htra in payin& my tribute to the memory of 3mbani and
con,ey my heartfelt condolence+ to the berea,ed family7
-12.
I 0 C 3le=ander, Governor of Maharastra
Reliance after Ambani
Followin& a )troke in 198", 3mbani handed o,er control of /eliance to hi+ +on+ (uke+h
and 3nil7 3mbani died after a (aor )troke on " #uly 2$$2 in 6reach Candy 1o+pital7
->.
!n 4o,ember 2$$>, (uke+h 3mbani in an inter,iew, admitted to ha,in& difference+ with
hi+ brother 3nil o,er <owner+hip i++ue+7< 1e al+o +aid that the difference+ Aare in the
pri,ate domain7A
-13.
3fter the death of Dhirubhai 3mbani, the &roup wa+ +plit into
/eliance !ndu+trie+ Gimited, headed by (uke+h 3mbani, and /eliance 3nil Dhirubhai
3mbani Group %/eliance 3D3 Group', headed by 3nil 3mbani7
2undapur *aman 2amath, the (ana&in& Director of !C!C! 6ank
-1>.
wa+ +een in media,
a+ a clo+e friend of the 3mbani family who helped to +ettle the i++ue7
*opular in media
!n an unauthoriHed bio&raphy of Dhirubhai 3mbani, publi+hed in 1998 by 1ami+h
(cDonald with the title The Polyester Prince, all hi+ political and bu+ine++ conCue+t+ are
outlined7 1arperCollin+ didn<t +ell the book in !ndia, becau+e the 3mbani threatened le&al
action7
-18.
!n 2$1$, an updated ,er+ion went on +ale in !ndia, called Ambani and SonsJ
there ha+ been no le&al action a&ain+t the publi+her +o far7
-18.
3 1indi film +aid to be loo+ely in+pired by the life of Dhirubhai 3mbani wa+ relea+ed on
12 #anuary 2$$97 Guru, directed by film maker (ani /atnam, cinemato&raphy by /ai,
(enon and mu+ic by 37/7/ahman +how+ the +tru&&le of a man +tri,in& to make hi+ mark
in the !ndian bu+ine++ world with a fictional )hakti Group of !ndu+trie+7 Guru +tar+
3bhi+hek 6achchan, (ithun Chakraborty, 3i+hwarya /ai, /7 (adha,an and *idya
6alan7 6achchan play+ Gurukant De+ai, a character implicitly ba+ed on Dhirubhai
3mbani7 Bhe character i+ popularly known a+ AGurubhaiA, +imilar to the realDlife
ADhirubhaiA7 (ithun Chakraborty portray+ (anikda who bear+ an uncanny re+emblance
to the real life /amnath Goenka and (adh,an portray+ )7 Gurumurthy, who &ained
national fame twenty year+ a&o, +pearheadin& ,irulent attack+ a&ain+t the /eliance &roup
in one of !ndia<+ bloodie+t corporate war+7
A+ards and recognitions
Ectober 2$11D3warded po+thumou+ly the ABLF Global Asian Award at the 3+ian
6u+ine++ Geader+hip Forum 3ward+7
4o,ember 2$$$5Conferred Man f The !entury award by Chemtech Foundation
and Chemical ;n&ineerin& World in reco&nition of hi+ out+tandin& contribution to
the &rowth and de,elopment of the chemical indu+try in !ndia7
2$$$, 1998 and 199"5 Featured amon& Power "#$the most %owerful %eo%le in
Asia by 3+iaweek ma&aHine7
#une 1998 D ADean<+ (edalA by Bhe Wharton )chool, Fni,er+ity of 0enn+yl,ania,
for +ettin& an out+tandin& e=ample of leader+hip7 Dhirubhai 3mbani ha+ the rare
di+tinction of bein& the fir+t !ndian to &et Wharton )chool Dean<+ (edal
-1".
3u&u+t 2$$1 5 ;conomic Bime+ 3ward+ for Corporate ;=cellence for Gifetime
3chie,ement7
Dhirubhai 3mbani wa+ named the A(an of 2$th CenturyA by the Federation of
!ndian Chamber+ of Commerce and !ndu+try %F!CC!'7
3 poll conducted by Bhe Bime+ of !ndia in 2$$$ ,oted him AGreate+t Creator of
Wealth !n Bhe Centurie+A