Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani (December 28, 1932 – July 6, 2002), widely known as Dhirubhai Ambani after his successful venture into the markets. A man from a modest family took the world by storm with his intelligence and inventive mind. A business tycoon brought India on the global map with his business endeavours. Reliance Industries’ founder later engaged in many business ventures. His legacy is genuinely outstanding and continues to endure after he has gone.
Background
Dhirubhai was born to Hirachand Gordhanbhai Ambani and JamnabenAmbani in his mother’s native place Chorwad in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. He belongs to the ModhBaniya community; father a schoolteacher, and mother was a housewife. From childhood, he was righteous and possessed leadership qualities. At 17, Ambani left for work in a company called ‘A. Besse and Co.’ in Port to Aden, Yemen, in 1948. He worked there alongside his brother as a clerk in a company considered the largest transcontinental trading firm in the 1950s in the east of Suez, Egypt. And in his course of work, he learnt trading and accounting in detail and sharpened his skills over the years. From his early days, his business savviness was evident. His ambitious journey of making more money began when he realized that London Stock Exchange had a high demand for the Rial, the Yemen coins with high content of silver earlier. Ambani acted smartly and purchased those coins in bulk, and later, he melted them into silver and sold it to gold traders. In a few months, he ended up with lakh of rupees.
Building an Empire
He returned to India after ten years with a few lakhs in his pocket and began importing polyester yarn and exporting Indian Spices. In the late 1950’s he used 15000 INR as capital and established Reliance Commercial Company in Mumbai. He also worked with Shell Oil Agents for a few years. In 1955 at 23, he tied the knot with Kokilaben. Between 1964-65 Ambani turned his attention towards synthetic textiles and made a debut in backward integration and opened the Reliance Textile mill. With Reliance Textiles, he produced and sold polyester cloth under the brand name ‘Vimal.’ Vimal’s high maintenance quality standards are applauded as the best polyester clothing brand. Dhirubhai Ambani had begun to fly high!
Reliance Annual General Meeting in Wankhede Stadium in 1994
On May 8, 1973, he changed Reliance Commercial Corporation to Reliance Industries. And he had gradually shaped Reliance into a huge petrochemical, plastic and power generation mammoth. Reliance went public in 1977. Ambani was a maestro in the stock market and was credited with introducing the stock market to the commoner in India. Thousands of people attended the Reliance annual general meetings, which were sometimes held in stadiums because of a humongous crowd and even televised to be aired for people.
It isn’t easy to start from scratch and build an empire that lasts several generations. Dhirubhai Ambani was a financial wizard who embodied greatness and humility in equal measure. Even after achieving so much, he always celebrated his roots and took pride in them. With support from his family, he was unstoppable.
Reliance Current Status
In the 1980’s Ambani handed over his business to his sons. Today his venture is called Reliance Industries Limited and offers petrochemicals, natural gas, energy, retail, telecommunications, mass media and textiles. In India, Reliance is the most profitable and largest company measured by revenue. RIL has an actual market capitalization of US$ 270 Bn (INR 23 trillion) with revenue of $ 99 Bn and $ 8.5 Bn in net profits with total assets worth $229 Bn in the year 2022. RIL ranks 100th on the world’s most giant corporations list, Fortune Global 500, as of 2022.
Some unknown facts about Dhirubhai Ambani
– Started his first entrepreneurship venture by selling chaat-pakodas to pilgrims at Mount Girnar in Gujarat.
– His first salary was Rs. 300 in A. Besse & Co.
– In 1996, Reliance became the first private Indian company that international credit rating agencies like S&P, Moody’s, etc. rated.
Some famous sayings of this Sterling Personality
– If you’re born poor, it isn’t your fault, but dying poor is.
– Think big, think fast, and think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly.
– Our dreams have to be bigger, ambitions higher, commitment deeper, and our efforts greater.
– Only when you dream it you can do it.
– True entrepreneurship comes only from risk-taking.
