Reliance’s succession plan is on track, entering the final stage
MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said the transfer of day-to-day management at the company is “almost complete”, indicating that the succession process at the energy-to-education conglomerate has entered its final stages.
The 69-year-old told shareholders that his three sons – Akash, Isha and Anant – have completed three years on the RIL board and are leading key sectors. Akash heads the technology business, Isha heads the consumer business, while Anant is in charge of the energy portfolio.“They are three bodies and one soul,” Ambani said. “Their spirit is dependence. One indivisible dependence, now and forever.”Describing the company’s future leadership as secure, Ambani said: “The future of your company is not only in safe hands, but in hands that will take Reliance to much greater heights.”He added that around 500 young leaders in their 30s and 40s have been developed across various businesses within the group to support his three children and their next stage of growth. According to Ambani, these leaders bring “domain expertise” and “technological fluency,” along with what he described as “first-generation passion.”Although he continues to provide operational leadership, Ambani said the transfer of day-to-day management responsibilities was now “almost complete”.
His current term ends in April 2029.The three brothers have become increasingly visible at RIL’s annual general meetings, where they present plans and updates on their respective business divisions. Ambani spoke about the succession plan for the first time at an internal event in December 2021. Ambani himself assumed the presidency under difficult circumstances. He joined the company’s board in 1977 – the year it was listed – at the age of 20, and became chairman and managing director after the death of his father and RIL founder Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002.
His succession was complicated by a dispute with his younger brother Anil over control of the company after their father died intestate.