Dhirubhai Ambani Birth Anniversary: 5 Interesting Facts About Reliance Industries' Founder

December 28, 2023, marks the 91st birth anniversary of Dhirubhai Ambani. It was on this day that the man who laid the foundation for India's biggest company Reliance Industries was born. Interestingly, December 28 is an important date for Indian industry as two business tycoons Dhirubhai Ambani and Rata Tata were born on this day.

Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 28 December 1932 in Gujarat's Chorwad to Hirachand Gordhanbhai Ambani, and Jamnaben.

In the 1950s, Dhirubhai Ambani started his career as a dispatch clerk with the largest transcontinental trading company east of Suez - A. Besse & Co.

When the company became a distributor of Shell products, Dhirubhai was promoted to manage the company's oil-filling station. It was at that time that he dreamt of setting up and owning a refinery.

In 1955, Dhirubhai Ambani married Kokilaben Ambani. The two became parents of Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Nina Ambani, and Dipti Ambani.

Dhirubhai Ambani decided to hand over Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to his sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani in 1996 after suffering a stroke. On July 6, 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani died due to a major stroke.

Mukesh Ambani became the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, got married to Nita Dalal. They have three children - Anant Ambani, Akash Ambani, and Isha Ambani.

Anil Ambani tied the knot with Tina Ambani. The couple are now parents of Jai Anmol Ambani and Jai Anshul Ambani.

Dhirubhai Ambani also known as Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani was a recipient of Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour for his contributions to trade and industry.

A few Interesting things about Dhirubhai Ambani :

1. Dhirubhai was the second son of a school teacher. Due to family circumstances, he had to drop out of school early. To help the family financially, he started earning money by doing odd jobs only after his 10th standard. But that was just the start.

2. At The age of 17, Dhirubhai went to Aden (Yemen) in search of work, and started his career as a dispatch clerk for A. Besse & Co. Couple of years later, after the company became a distributor for Shell products and Dhirubhai was promoted to manage the company's oil-filling station at the port of Aden. It was at this point that he dreamed of setting up and owning a refinery, which he later realized with his petrochemicals venture.

3. In 1958, Dhirubhai returned to India to kick start his first business venture, a spice trading company known as Reliance Commercial Corporation. Later, in 1962, Dhirubhai saw an emerging opportunity in yarn trading and shifted to the new business and there he rebranded his company to Reliance Textile Industries Limited.

4. In 1977, Reliance Textile Industries went public. The Reliance IPO was a success and a major milestone in the growth of the Reliance group.

5. In 1991, Dhirubhai entered into the petrochemical business and set up Reliance Hazira, for the manufacture of petrochemicals. At the time, Reliance Hazira represented the single largest investment made by a private sector group in India at a single location.

Later, Reliance started the Jamnagar facility in 1999. By 2007, the combined fortune of the Ambani family rose to more than $60 billion.

Dhirubhai passed away on July 6, 2002. Today, Reliance Industries Limited is a Fortune 500 company and the largest private sector corporation in India. As of December 28, 2023, Reliance Industries has a market cap of Rs 17,55,018.30 crore.