MUMBAI: History repeats at Reliance Industries after 45 years. In 1977, Dhirubhai Ambani named his son Mukesh to the board of the company. Following in his father’s footsteps, Mukesh on Monday inducted his three children — Isha, Akash and Anant — to the board.
Addressing shareholders at the company’s annual meet, Mukesh, chairman of Reliance Industries, said he will continue to lead the company for five more years. His wife Nita will step down from the board but continue in her role as the chairperson of Reliance Foundation, he added.
“I can proudly say that they have earned their stripes through dedication, commitment, and hard work,” he said about his children. “Teaming up with the other directors, they will work as one single team to provide leadership to the Reliance Group as a whole and guide the growth of all our diverse businesses with a holistic vision,” he added.
The Ambani children have been closely involved in the company operations and are managing key businesses over the last few years, including retail, digital services and energy and materials.
Akash, the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm — the telecom arm of Reliance, was part of a team that brokered a $5.7 billion investment in 2020 by Facebook, now Meta, in Jio Platforms.
Isha is leading the expansion of Reliance Retail into new categories and geographies and is already a director on the board of the retail unit, Reliance Retail Ventures.
Anant is a director at Reliance’s new energy business, retail unit as well as Jio platforms oil and chemical units. Their appointment will take effect after shareholder approval.
“I shall groom and empower all the Next-Gen leaders at Reliance and prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of the future. I shall especially mentor Akash, Isha, and Anant so that they can provide collective leadership and dependably take Reliance to greater heights of growth and value in the decades ahead,” he said. Ambani first spoke of a succession plan in 2021 and had said his children would find prominent roles in the empire.