“The turning point in my and Reliance's life was when India embraced economic reforms... ...Liberalisation freed the suppressed entrepreneurial energies in our country and gave us the hum kisi se kam nahin spirit”

The 1991 reforms enabled Mukesh to fulfill his father Dhirubhai Ambani’s dream of Indians building world-class and world-scale businesses. Mukesh went on to build Reliance Industries Limited into India’s most valued company, at $172 billion, and made it a market leader in several key sectors

- RAJ CHENGAPPA

MUKESHAMBANI, 63

Someone like Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Industries Limited is the most valued business conglomerate in India, with a market capitalisation of $172 billion (Rs 12.72 lakh crore) and whose personal net worth of $86 billion (Rs 6.3 lakh crore) makes him India’s richest individual, is bound to have experienced several turning points. Pinpointing a single life-changing moment may be a difficult proposition for him.

It could well have been early in life when his father Dhirubhai Ambani ran a trading business in spice and textiles first in Aden (where Mukesh was born) and then in Mumbai. His family, including his parents, brother and two sisters, first lived in a modest, two-bedroom apartment in Bhuleshwar before moving to the upmarket Usha Kiran complex on Carmichael Road. Mukesh reportedly loved the sense of community and camaraderie these apartments offered and was in and out of his neighbours’ houses even as he attended a local school. These experiences perhaps enabled him to stay rooted in reality even as he achieved an exalted status later in life. (He still enjoys the simple pleasure of eating street food, particularly idli-sambar).