Dhirubhai Ambani Biography

Dhirubhai H. Ambani
Founder Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited, India
December 28, 1932 - July 6, 2002
Major Group Companies: Reliance Industries Limited, India's largest private sector company.
Birthplace: Chorwad, village in Saurashtra (Gujarat), India
Father's Name: Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani
Mother's Name: Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani

Career:At the age of 17 went to Aden (now part of Yemen) and worked for A. Besse & Co. Ltd., the sole selling distributor of Shell products. In the year 1958 returned to Mumbai and started his first company, Reliance Commercial Corporation, a commodity trading and export house. In the year 1966, as a first step in Reliance's highly successful strategy of backward integration, he started the textile mill in Naroda, Ahmedabad. In the year 1975, a technical team from the World Bank certified that the Reliance textile plant was "excellent by developed country standards." In the year 1977, the company went public. Credited with a number of financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. Today, the Reliance Group has one of the largest family of shareholders in the world. With an investment of over Rs 36,000 crore (US$ 9 billion) in petroleum refining, petrochemicals, power generation, telecommunication services and a port terminal in a three-year time frame, has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading textiles-petroleum-petrochemicals-power-telecom player.


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 specialisation 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 revolutionised 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, at Mumbai.

His Quotes:
Spirit of Shri Dhirubhai H. Ambani
Quotes at various forums

Only when you dream it you can do it."
•"Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one's monopoly"
•"Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambitions higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India."
•"You do not require an invitation to make profits."
•"If you work with determination and with perfection, success will follow."
•"Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into opportunities."
•"Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They will deliver."
•"Between my past, the present and the future, there is one common factor: Relationship and Trust. This is the foundation of our growth"
•"We bet on people."
•"Meeting the deadlines is not good enough, beating the deadlines is my expectation."
•"Don't give up, courage is my conviction


Achievements / Awards for Mr Dhirubhai H. Ambani

The Economic Times - Lifetime Achievement Award
10.08.2001
TNS-Mode Survey - India's Most Admired CEO
26.07.1999
Chemtech Foundation - Man of the Century Award
08.11.2000
FICCI - Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century Award
24.03.2000
Asia Week - Dhirubhai among Asia's 50 most powerful people The Excerpt from Asia Week 1998The Excerpt from Asia Week 2000
29.05.199826.05.2000
The Times of India - Dhirubhai Ambani voted "Creator of Wealth" of the Century
08.01.2000
Business Baron - Dhirubhai Ambani voted "Indian Businessman of the Century" The complete cover story
06.12.199931.10.1999
Dhirubhai Ambani in Asia Week Hall of Fame The cover story
16.10.1998
Wharton's Dean Medal for Dhirubhai Ambani
15.06.1998
Business Week - Dhirubhai Ambani one of "The Stars of Asia"The complete cover story
29.06.1998
Business India - Dhirubhai Ambani, Businessman of the Year 1993
31.10.1999