Born On: 28 December 1932
Died On: 06 July 2002
Siblings: RamaniklalAmbani
Spouse: KokilabenAmbani 1955-2002 (Her death)
Children: MukeshAmbani, Anil Ambani, Nina Kothari, Deepti Salgaonkar
Founder/Co-Founder: Reliance Industries, Reliance Power, Reliance Capital
DhirubhaiAmbani is a rags to riches story who founded reliance in Mumbai in the year 1957, He took his public issue of the company in the 1977 and by the end of 80’s his company had the largest number of shareholders in the world. The number of shareholders in his company was so huge that they had to organize their Annual General Meetings in a Football Stadium to accommodate its shareholders.
Life of DhirubhaiAmbani
He was born in Gujarat to a school teacher with meager income. At the age of 16, he went to Yemen and started working as Petrol Pump Attendant. He had a craving for Trading and it was here in the streets of Yemen that he learnt the art of trading.
As hedindn’t have sufficient cash to enter into Trading, he borrowed as much as he could from the friends and small Aden shopkeepers on terms nobody hadever offered them. “Profit we share and all loss will be mine” became his motto.
Dhirubhai’s Return to India
Dhirubhai returned to india in 1957 to start his own business with his cousin. He started by importing Polyester and exporting Spices to Yemen. He started expanding his business with the help of Public Issues. Reliance raised cash from the Indian Public a couple of times in the 1980’s through equities and debentures. It was in the 1980’s after Reliance aggressive fund raising plans that the Indian Stock Markets started witnessing some activity.
Zero Tax Company
Such was the Financial Acumen of this man that Reliance never paid a single penny income tax to the Govt. even after two decades of its listing in 1977. Reliance showed profits in such a manner that they didn’t have to pay any taxes to the Govt but still went on giving Dividends and Bonus to its shareholders.It was only after India introduced MAT Regime that Reliance was forced to pay taxes.
Criticism
Dhirubhai was surrounded with criticism throughout his life. He has been accused of Excise and Customs evasion, Bribing Politicians, Maneuvering Policies, Stock Market Rigging, Havala among others.
DhirubhaiAmbani had a distinct identity of his own and to award him for his exemplary achievements, the Department of Post has also released a Rs. 5 stamp of DhirubhaiAmbani.
Awards & Achievements
For his excellent Business Acumen and never-say-die spirit which made reliance one of the topmost Business Empires in the country and the world. He was conferred with numerous honors including Dean’s Medal, Lifetime Achievement Award for Corporate Excellence and Man of the Century award. Additionally, he was name ‘Man of the 20th Century’ by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCI). He was conferred with the ABLF Global Asian award at the Asian Business Ledearship Forum Awards.
Dhirubhai’s Famous Quote :-
“Think Big, Think Fast, Think Ahead. Ideas are no one’s Monopoly.”
– Pratiksha Trivedi
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