Akash Ambani has always been viewed as a prodigy who never stops learning and growing. Born into wealth and privilege, he was also raised within an Indian family where ambition is encouraged at every level.
The Indian business tycoon, Mukesh Ambani, announced his resignation from Reliance Jio’s Board on 28th June 2022. Following his resignation, Mukesh passed to the
next generation his thriving telecom business to his son Akash Ambani. Akash Ambani began his new journey as the chairman of the Board of Directors of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited a subsidiary of Jio Platforms Ltd.
Akash Ambani is the eldest son of Mukesh Ambani. Isha Ambani is the twin sister of Akash Ambani, and they have a younger brother Anant Ambani. His date of birth is 23rd October 1991. He grew up in a Gujarati-speaking home. He attended Dhirubhai Ambani International School, founded by Reliance Industries and named after his grandfather. He attended Brown University in the United States. He graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
In 2019, Akash Ambani married his wife, Shloka Mehta. She is the daughter of Russell and Mona Mehta, who are Indian diamantaires. In December 2020, Akash & Shloka was blessed with a baby boy named Prithvi Ambani.
Akash Ambani is already following in the footsteps of his father Mukesh Ambani and has taken the responsibility of leading the company from the front. He and his twin sister Isha Ambani were introduced to the BOD (Board of Directors) in the year 2014. Being the successor of the richest family in Asia you should know his contribution to the Reliance group.
Akash Ambani's Contributions to Reliance Group
After completing his education, Akash Ambani started working for Reliance Jio Group digital. Akash’s contributions had helped it in the expansion of its digital services business. He was working as a non-executive director before being elevated as the chairman of the board of India’s largest telecom network with over 420 million subscribers.
Under the leadership soft skill of Mukesh and Akash, Jio emerged as one of the biggest players in the telecom sector across India while managing to clear its AGR dues ahead of the moratorium period, unlike its competitors in the market. Akash also worked closely with the company’s engineers to conceptualise and launch Jio phones which became an instant hit.
Contributions to Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
Akash Ambani has been associated with Reliance Jio for the last few years. He was also involved with the team responsible for developing and launching the Jio Phone in the year 2017.
Moreover, over the previous few years, He has also led significant acquisitions that have helped Reliance Jio limited carve its niche in digital marketing. His elevation as Jio chief recognises the specific contributions made by him to the company's digital services journey and re-dedicates him to even higher levels of responsibilities.
Akash was closely involved with the "creation of the digital ecosystem around Jio’s 4G proposition". He is now leading the creation of the ‘convergence dividend’ for over 500 million consumers, digitally and with high inclusivity across geographies and income levels.
He is credited with working closely with the team that invented and launched an "India-specs focussed Jiophone" in 2017. The phone, say, gadget experts, became a "revolutionary device" to take many people out of 2G to 4G stated Mukesh Ambani in an interview.
In 2020, he was made the non-executive director. Subsequently, he led the critical deal between Reliance Jio and Meta, then Facebook, where the latter picked up a 9.99 % stake in Jio Platforms, the holding company of Jio, for a whopping $5.7 billion. In 2021, Akash played an important role in Google’s $4.5-billion investment in Jio Platforms for a 7.73 %stake. He is also helping Reliance Jio's 5G journey.
Akash Ambani new chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
Mukesh Ambani resigned from the board of his $217-billion group's telecom, Reliance Jio, and handed over the firm's reins to elder son Akash Ambani. The board of directors have at their meeting held on June 27, 2022, which noted the resignation of Mukesh Ambani as director of the company effective from close of working hours on June 27, 2022," Jio informed the stock exchanges. The board has also approved the appointment of Akash Ambani, non-executive director as chairman of the board of directors of the company, on 27 June 2022.
Six amazing facts about Akash Ambani
Akash’s elevation comes at a time when Reliance Jio 5G spectrum race and its initial public offering which is possible to list later in 2022.
Akash is the chairman-MD of Reliance Industries and the elder son of Reliance Foundation chairpersons Nita and Mukesh.
After completing the IB Diploma program from Dhirubhai Ambani International School in 2009, he graduated in Business-Commerce from Brown University, the USA in 2013.
Akash not only watches cricket but also enjoys playing it. He also showed interest in designing the cricket kit of his team Mumbai Indians, which was included in the Indian Premier League in the year 2008.
Akash Ambani was included on the board of Reliance Retail in the year 2014 as a director position.
Akash also likes to play football as well. He also participated in the International Football Camp, captaining the football team at Dhirubhai Ambani International for more than 5 years.
IPL franchise
Even though Mukesh Ambani owns Mumbai Indians, the real driving force behind the team is his son Akash and his wife Neeta Ambani. The sheer passion with which Akash manages the team has been beautifully depicted in the famous Netflix documentary Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians. With a net worth of USD 1.3 billion and five IPL wins, Mumbai Indians are the wealthiest and most successful IPL franchise in the history of the tournament.
Summary
Mukesh Ambani's son Akash Ambani is the youngster who has already made his name one of the most successful Indian entrepreneurs. He has been on this journey of Jio, Reliance Industry’s telecom and India’s leading mobile network operator. Being the grandson of the legendary Dhirubhai Ambani, Akash is blessed with natural business sense.
Akash Ambani is a non-executive director at Reliance Jio. He was part of teams that negotiated Meta Platforms Inc.’s investment into Jio’s parent and has led major acquisitions by Jio in the digital market in the last few years. He led the launch of Jio’s 4G services in India with Isha Ambani and the launch of JioPhone in 2017.
FAQ's:
Mukesh Ambani will continue to be the chairman of Jio Platforms Ltd.
At its annual general meeting, Reliance Jio announced that it will launch its standalone 5G network in October, initially in four cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Sources say that Jio's 5G network is expected to be in 9-10 top cities in the country by January next year.
India's second richest man, Mukesh Ambani has been placed in the 8th spot by Bloomberg with a net worth of $91 billion, while Forbes has placed him in the 8th spot with $92 billion.
Ambani began a business trading in spices in the late 1950s, calling his nascent venture Reliance Commercial Corporation.
