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Dhiru Bhai Ambani |
Born- 28 December 1932 Chorvad, Gujarat, India
Born Died- 6 July 2002 (aged 69) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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)
Dhiru Bhai Ambani built India's largest private sector company. Created
an equity cult in the Indian capital market. Reliance is the first Indian
company to feature in Forbes 500 list Dhirubhai
Ambani was the most enterprising Indian entrepreneur. His life journey is
reminiscent of the rags to riches story. He is remembered as the one who
rewrote Indian corporate history and built a truly global corporate group.
Dhirubhai Ambani alias Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani was born on December
28, 1932, at Chorwad, Gujarat, into a Modh family. His father was a school
teacher. Dhirubhai Ambani started his entrepreneurial career by selling
"bhajias" to pilgrims in Mount Girnar over the weekends. After doing his matriculation at the age of 16,
Dhirubhai moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked there as a gas-station attendant, and
as a clerk in an oil company. He returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and
set up a textile trading company. Assisted
by his two sons, Mukesh and Anil, Dhiru Bhai Ambani built India's largest
private sector company, Reliance India Limited, from a scratch. Over time his
business has diversified into a core specialization in petrochemicals with
additional interests in telecommunications, information technology, energy,
power, retail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital markets, and
logistics.
Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with shaping India's equity culture,
attracting millions of retail investors in a market till then dominated by
financial institutions. Dhirubhai revolutionized capital markets. From nothing,
he generated billions of rupees in wealth for those who put their trust in his
companies. His efforts helped create an 'equity cult' in the Indian capital
market. With innovative instruments like the convertible debenture, Reliance
quickly became a favorite of the stock market in the 1980s. In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company
to raise money in global markets, its high credit-taking in international
markets limited only by India's sovereign rating. Reliance also became the
first Indian company to feature in Forbes 500 list.
Dhirubhai Ambani was named the Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century
by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). A poll
conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted him "greatest creator of
wealth in the century".
Dhirubhai Ambani died on July 6, 2002,
