Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani also known as Dhirubhai, (28 December 1932 6 July 200 2) was an Indian business magnate

and entrepreneur who founded Reliance Industri es, a petrochemicals, communications, power, and textiles conglomerate and the o nly privately owned Indian company in the Fortune 500. Ambani took his company p ublic in 1977. Dhirubhai has been one among the select Forbes billionaires and h as also figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia.[1] His l ife has often been referred to as a true "rags to riches" story. Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the 1950s an d moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. After making mode st profits, he moved into textiles and opened his mill near Ahmedabad. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958 and today the company, with over 85,000 emp loyees, provides almost 5% of the Central Government's total tax revenue. Ambani was credited with introducing the stock market to the average investor, and tho usands of investors attended the Reliance annual general meetings, which were so metimes held in a football stadium, with millions more watching on television.[c itation needed] In 1986 after a heart attack he handed over Reliance Group to his sons Mukesh an d Anil. After his death, the group was split into Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), led by Anil Ambani. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Life in Aden (1949-1958) 3 Majin Commercial Corporation 4 Reliance Textiles 5 Initial public offering 6 Dhirubhai's control over stock exchange 7 Diversification 8 Criticism 9 Death 10 Reliance after Dhirubhai 11 In popular media 12 Awards and recognitions 13 Reference and notes 14 External links [edit]Early life Hirachand Ambani was a village school teacher with little income. Hirachand and Jamnaben had two daughters - Trilochanaben and Jasuben and three sons - Ramnikbh ai, Dhirubhai and Natubhai. Dhirubhai was the second son.[1] Dhirubhai was preco cious and highly intelligent. He was also highly impatient of the oppressive gri nding mill of the school classroom. He chose work which used his physical abilit y to the maximum rather than cramming school lessons. When Jamnaben once asked D hirubhai and Ramnikbhai to help his father by earning money, he angrily replied, "Why do you keep screaming for money? I will make heaps of money one day". On w eekends, he began setting up onion/potato fries stall at village fairs and made extra money which he gave his mother.[citation needed] He also used to sell milk powder to make his income before that and luckily he turned to become a great m an. [edit]Life in Aden (1949-1958) Just after Dhirubhai was through his annual matriculation examination and even b efore the result was out, Hirachandbhai called him home to Chorwad. Hirachandbha i had been unwell for quite some time and had grown extremely weak and frail. "D hiru, do you know why I have called you here?"[citation needed] Hirachandbhai asked his son the very night he reached home. "Well, I'll tell you . You know I have been unwell for past several months. I cannot work any more. I know you want to study further but I can't afford that any more. I need you to earn for the family. I need your money. The family needs it. You must work now. Ramnikbhai has arranged a job for you in Aden. You go there."[citation needed]

Dhirubhai had really wanted to study for a bachelor's degree, but his ambition m elted when he looked into the anxious eyes of his sick father. "I'll do as you s ay" he said and the very next morning he left for Rajkot to get his passport. Th ose days Indians did not need a visa for entering Aden but there were rumours ar ound that the no visa regime was about to change any day. So he needed to hurry up before the visa rules changed. In a few days he was in Bombay to board the sh ip to Aden. It was on board the ship that's Dhirubhai learnt from Gujarati newsp aper that he had passed his matriculation examination in second division.[citati on needed] On reaching Aden, Dhirubhai joined office on the very day of his arrival. It was a clerk's job with the A. Besse & Co., named after its French founder Antonin B esse. Those days Aden was the second busiest trading and oil bunkering port in t he world after London handling over 6,300 ships and 1,500 dhows a year.[citation needed] And, there in Aden, A. Besse & Co. was the largest transcontinental trading firm east of Suez. It was engaged in almost every branch of trading business-cargo b ooking, handling, shipping, forwarding, and wholesale merchandising. Besse acted as trading agents for a large number of European, American, African and Asian c ompanies and dealt with all sorts of goods ranging from sugar, spices, food grai ns and textiles to office stationary, tools, machinery and petroleum products. D hirubhai was first sent to the commodities trading section of the firm. Later, h e was transferred to the section that handled petroleum products for the oil gia nt Shell[citation needed] "I learnt business at the Besse which was then the best trading firm this side o f the Suez," he used to tell friends in later years. He was quick on the uptake. He learnt the ways of commodity trading, high seas purchase and sales, marketin g and distribution, currency trading, and money management. During lunch break h e roamed the souks and bazaars of Aden where traders from numerous different con tinents and countries bought and sold goods worth millions of pound sterling, th e then global currency, during the day. He met traders from all parts of Europe, Africa, India, Japan and China. Aden was the biggest trading port of the times, a trading port where goods landed from all parts of the world and were dispatch ed to the farthest corners of different continents. Speculation in manufactured goods and commodities was rife all over the Aden bazaars.[citation needed] Dhirubhai felt tempted to speculate but had no money for that and was still raw for such trading. To learn the tricks of the trade he offered to work free for a Gujarati trading firm. There he learnt accounting, book keeping, preparing ship ping papers and documents, and dealing with banks and insurance companies., skil ls that would come handy when he launched himself into trading about a decade af terwards in Bombay. At the Besse office during the day he polished his skills in typing and Pitman shorthand, drafting commercial letters, and composing legal d ocuments.[citation needed] At the boarding house where he lived with another twenty-five or so young Gujara ti clerks and office boys, he devoted long hours of the night mastering English grammar, essay writing, current affairs and a host of subjects that took his fan cy from week to week. He was the first to snatch the English, Gujarati and Hindi daily papers and weeklies as soon as they arrived by the ship ever day. The Tim es of India, Blitz, Janmabhoomi and Navajeevan formed his favourite reading mate rial. He also devoured all sorts of books, magazines and journals the passengers arriving from various European and Indian ports left in the ships and at the of fices of various shipping agents.[citation needed] "Of all the books I read so avidly those days one I remember most fondly are (Ja waharlal Nehru's) the "Glimpses of World History" and the "Discovery of India," he would recall long after his Aden days. "They were fat, big books but written in simple English and to me they opened a whole new world of adventure, of human wisdom and human folly. I began reading them not to learn of world history but to practice my English but once I opened their pages their breadth of vision had me in a thrall. I used to keep a dictionary by my side when reading these books and note down every new word I came across to increase my vocabulary. Later whe n I used to draft letters to ministers and senior officials during my early Bomb

ay days, I used whole lot of quotations, phrases and impressive words from these two books."[citation needed] He also gorged on dozens of books and magazine articles on psychology that becam e his favourite subject for a long time. "I learnt much from this class of my re ading," he sometimes said, "I learnt how we humans and animals love to be loved more than anything else, how we are driven by desire to earn the love, affection and honor of those around us, what it is to be a leader, how to motivate those whom we want to attain great heights, how ideologies and interests clash and rec oncile or cancel each other.[citation needed] "More than anything else I learnt that nothing big can ever be achieved without money, influence and power and I also learnt that money, influence and power alo ne cannot achieve anything in life, big or small, without a certain soft, delica te, sensitive, understanding human touch in all one's deeds and words."[citation needed] After he thought he had learnt the basics of commodities trading, Dhirubhai bega n speculating in high seas purchase and sales of all sorts of goods. He did not have enough money of his own for such speculative trading. So he borrowed as muc h as he could from friends and small Aden shopkeepers on terms nobody had ever o ffered them. "Profit we share and all loss will be mine" became his motto. Durin g lunch break and after office hours he was always in the local bazaar, trading in one thing or the other.[citation needed] Soon, those around him found that he had an uncanny knack for such speculative t rading. He seldom lost money in any deal. "I think I had an animal instinct abou t such trading but there was a lot of reading and understanding of market trends behind that animal instinct of mine. I read every bit of paper I could lay my h ands on about what was happening around the world, I listened carefully to every word uttered in the market, picked every bit of gossip in the shipping circles and pondered long through the night in the bed about the pros and cons of every deal I wanted to make."[citation needed] Meantime, the Shell oil refinery and the first oil harbour came up in Aden in 19 54, the year Dhirubhai returned home to Gujarat to marry Kokilaben. As expected, A. Besse & Co. became the agents for distribution of Shell refinery products. D hirubhai had done well at the office during his first five years. Now he was sen t on promotion to the oil filling station at the newly built harbour.[citation n eeded] He liked the new job, though it was a lot more demanding than the desk job in th e commodities section. Here he had to service the ships bunkering for diesel and lubricants. He enjoyed visiting the ships, making friends with sailors and the engine staff I heard from them first hand accounts of their voyages in different parts of the world of which he had until then read about only in books and maga zines. And, here it was that he first began dreaming of one day building a refin ery of his own.[citation needed] "It was a crazy idea for a petrol pump attendant to want to build a refinery of his own, but that is the sort of crazy ideas I have been playing with all my lif e," Dhirubhai recalled at the time Reliance's 25-million ton oil refinery, the l argest grassroots refinery in the world, went on stream in Jamnagar in 1999. "I have been able to build this refinery because I decided long years ago not to se ttle for anything else," he said, "I had heard a Yemeni proverb in Aden "la budd min Sana'a wa lau taal al-safr" (You must visit Sana'a, however long the journe y takes). I never forgot that saying."[citation needed] By the late 1950s it became clear that the British rule in Aden would not last l ong in the face of growing Yemeni movement for independence supported by Gamal A bdel Nasser's revolutionary government from across the Suez. The large Indian co mmunity of Hindu and Parsee Gujaratis began preparing to move out of Aden. Some began returning home to India, while some chose to settle in Britain. Aden India ns those days were allowed to settle in Britain.[citation needed] Where to go on leaving Aden was debated among the colony's settlers heatedly eve ryday. Some of Dhirubhai's friends told him that he should migrate to London whe re, considering his talents, acumen and guts, he could find better opportunities of growth. At the port and on ships at Aden he often heard glowing accounts of

post-war Britain and the promises of a life of much greater ease there than one could ever hope to find in India.[citation needed] Dhirubhai weighed his options.. By now he had saved some money and was thinking of setting up some business of his own. Although Dhirubhai's father had died in 1952, he had in the meantime been blessed with his first son, Mukesh D. Ambani, in April, 1957. Kokilaben and Mukesh were back home in India.The choice of openi ng a shop somewhere in London was tempting but he felt India was calling him hom e.[citation needed] Those were exciting years in India. The country was in the midst of implementing the second five-year Plan which promised to build big industries, raise new big dams across many rivers, lay new roads through the length and breadth of the co untry, boost agricultural production to new record levels and set up a huge netw ork of food grains procurement centers.[citation needed] Though by the end of 1958, the newspapers coming from India were painting a rath er gloomy picture of the country's finances and foreign exchange reserves, there was also a new vigour and a new fervor in their reports of a new Rs 10,000-cror e five-year Plan then under preparation. The Plan promised to open massive new o pportunities for growth for the country's youth. Jawaharlal Nehru was daily exho rting the young to cast away their old ways and help build a new India. His word s were stirring and roused the passions of every young Indian, especially of tho se living far away from the country.[citation needed] Dhirubhai was now 26 years (1957), full of youthful vigour and vitality, and fil led with high hopes for himself and for the new India of Nehru's dreams. He just could not miss the excitement of being in India in such tumultuous times. He de cided to return home, instead of going to London to live a life of ease there.[c itation needed] [edit]Majin Commercial Corporation Ten years later, Dhirubhai Ambani returned to India and started "Majin" in partn ership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who used to be with him in Ade n, Yemen. Majin was to import polyester yarn and export spices to Yemen.[2] The first office of the Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up at the Narsinatha Street in Masjid Bunder. It was 350 sq ft (33 m2). room with a telephone, one t able and three chairs. Initially, they had two assistants to help them with thei r business. During this period, Dhirubhai and his family used to stay in a one b edroom apartment at the Jaihind Estate in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai. In 1965, Champakla l Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Dhirubhai started on h is own. It is believed that both had different temperaments and a different take on how to conduct business. While Mr. Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn inventories, Dhirubhai was a known risk taker and he be lieved in building inventories, anticipating a price rise, and making profits.[3 ] In 1968, he moved to an upmarket apartment at Altamount Road in South Mumbai. Ambani's net worth was estimated at about Rs.10 lakh by late 1970s.[citation nee ded] [edit]Reliance Textiles Sensing a good opportunity in the textile business, Dhirubhai Ambani along with Amit Mehra, a Delhi based Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary residing in Ashok Vihar, Delhi started the first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in th e year 1966. Textiles were manufactured using polyester fibre yarn.[4] Dhirubhai started the brand "Vimal", which was named after his elder brother Ramaniklal A mbani's son, Vimal Ambani. Extensive marketing of the brand "Vimal" in the inter iors of India made it a household name. Franchise retail outlets were started an d they used to sell "only Vimal" brand of textiles. In the year 1975, a Technica l team from the World Bank visited the Reliance Textiles' Manufacturing unit. Th is unit has the rare distinction of being certified as "excellent even by develo ped country standards" during that period. Amit Mehra had played a pivotal role in helping and supporting Dhirubhai in this success. [5] [edit]Initial public offering

Dhirubhai Ambani is awarded with starting the equity cult in India. More than 58 ,000 investors from various parts of India subscribed to Reliance's IPO in 1977. Dhiru bhai was able to convince large number of small investors from rural Guja rat that being shareholders of his company would be profitable.[citation needed] Reliance Industries was the first private sector company whose Annual General Me etings were held in stadiums. In 1986, The Annual General Meeting of Reliance In dustries number of first-time retail investors to invest in Reliance. Ambani's n et worth was estimated at about Rs.1 billion by early 1980s.[citation needed] [edit]Dhirubhai's control over stock exchange In 1982, Reliance Industries came up against a rights issue regarding partly con vertible debentures.[6] It was rumored that company was making all efforts to en sure that their stock prices did not slide an inch. Sensing an opportunity, a be ar cartel which was a group of stock brokers from Calcutta started to short sell the shares of Reliance. To counter this, a group of stock brokers till recently referred to as "Friends of Reliance" started to buy the short sold shares of Re liance Industries on the Bombay Stock Exchange.[citation needed] The Bear Cartel was acting on the belief that the Bulls would be short of cash t o complete the transactions and would be ready for settlement under the "Badla" trading system operative in the Bombay Stock Exchange. The bulls kept on buying and a price of Rs. 152 per share was maintained till the day of settlement. On t he day of settlement, the Bear Cartel was taken aback when the Bulls demanded a physical delivery of shares. To complete the transaction, the much needed cash w as provided to the stock brokers who had bought shares of Reliance, by none othe r than Dhirubhai Ambani. In the case of non-settlement, the Bulls demanded an "U nbadla" (a penalty sum) of Rs. 35 per share. With this, the demand increased and the shares of Reliance shot above 180 rupees in minutes. The settlement caused an enormous uproar in the market. To find a solution to this situation, the Bombay Stock Exchange was closed for t hree business days. Authorities from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) intervened in the matter and brought down the "Unbadla" rate to Rs. 2 with a stipulation th at the Bear Cartel had to deliver the shares within the next few days. The Bear Cartel bought shares of Reliance from the market at higher price levels and it w as also learnt that Dhirubhai Ambani himself supplied those shares to the Bear C artel and earned a healthy profit out of The Bear Cartel's adventure.[7] After this incident, many questions were raised by his detractors and the press. Not many people were able to understand as to how a yarn trader till a few year s ago was able to get in such a huge amount of cash flow during a crisis period. The answer to this was provided by the then finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee in the parliament. He informed the house that a Non-Resident Indian had invested up to Rs. 22 Crore in Reliance during 1982-83. These investments were routed th rough many companies like Crocodile, Lota and Fiasco. These companies were prima rily registered in Isle of Man. The interesting factor was that all the promoter s or owners of these companies had a common surname Shah. An investigation by th e Reserve Bank of India in the incident did not find any unethical or illegal ac ts or transactions committed by Reliance or its promoters.[8] [edit]Diversification In Ambani began the process of backward integration, setting up a plant to manuf acture polyester filament yarn. He subsequently diversified into chemicals, petr ochemicals, plastics, power. The company as a whole was described by the BBC as "a business empire with an estimated annual turnover of $12bn, and an 85,000-str ong workforce". The final phase of Reliance s diversification occurred in the 1990 s when the company turned aggressively towards petrochemicals and telecommunicat ions.[citation needed] [edit]Criticism Despite his almost Midas Touch, Ambani has been known to have flexible values an d an unethical streak running through him. His biographer himself has cited some instances of his unethical behavior when he was just an ordinary employee at a

petrol pump in Dubai. He has been accused of having manipulated government polic ies to suit his own needs, and has been known to be a king-maker in government e lections. Although most media sources tend to speak out about business-politics nexus, the Ambani house has always enjoyed more protection and shelter from the media storms that sweep across the country.[citation needed] Tussle with Nusli Wadia Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing was, at one point in time, the biggest competitor o f Dhirubhai and Reliance Industries. Both Nusli Wadia and Dhirubhai were known f or their influence in the political circles and their ability to get the most di fficult licenses approved during the times of pre-liberalized economy.[citation needed] During the Janata Party rule between 1977 - 1979, Nusli Wadia obtained t he permission to build a 60,000 tonnes per annum Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) pl ant. Before the letter of intent was converted into a licence, many hurdles came in the way. Finally, in 1981, Nusli Wadia was granted the license for the plant . This incident acted as a catalyst between the two parties and the competition took an ugly turn.[citation needed] The Indian Express Articles At one point in time, Ramnath Goenka was a friend of Dhirubhai Ambani. Ramnath G oenka was also considered to be close to Nusli Wadia. On many occasions, Ramnath Goenka tried to intervene between the two warring factions and bring an end to the enmity. Goenka and Ambani became rivals mainly because Ambani's corrupt busi ness practices and his illegal actions that lead to Goenka not getting a fair sh are in the company. Later on, Ramnath Goenka chose to support Nusli Wadia. At on e point of time, Ramnath Goenka is believed to have said "Nusli is an Englishman . He cannot handle Ambani. I am a bania. I know how to finish him"....[citation needed] As days passed by, The Indian Express, a broadsheet daily published by him, carr ied a series of articles against Reliance Industries and Dhirubhai in which they claimed that Dhirubhai was using unfair trade practices to maximise the profits . Ramnath Goenka did not use his staff at the Indian Express to investigate the case but assigned his close confidante, advisor and chartered accountant S. Guru murthy for this task. Apart from S. Gurumurthy, another journalist Maneck Davar who was not on the rolls of Indian Express started contributing stories. Jamnada s Moorjani, a businessman opposed to the Ambanis was also a part of this campaig n.[citation needed] Both Ambani and Goenka were equally criticized and admired b y sections of the society. People criticized Goenka that he was using a national newspaper for the cause of a personal enmity. Critics believed that there were many other businessman in the country who were using more unfair and unethical p ractices but Goenka chose to target only Ambani and not the others. Critics also admired Goenka for his ability to run these articles without any help from his regular staff. Dhirubhai Ambani was also getting more recognition and admiration , in the meantime. A section of the public started to appreciate Dhirubhai's bus iness sense and his ability to tame the system according to his wishes.[citation needed] The end to this tussle came only after Dhirubhai Ambani suffered a stro ke. While Dhirubhai Ambani was recovering in San Diego, his sons Mukesh Ambani a nd Anil Ambani managed the affairs. The Indian Express had turned the guns again st Reliance and was directly blaming the government for not doing enough to pena lize Reliance Industries. The battle between Wadia - Goenka and the Ambanis took a new direction and became a national crisis. Gurumurthy and another journalist , Mulgaokar consorted with President Giani Zail Singh and ghost-wrote a hostile letter to the Prime Minister on his behalf. The Indian Express published a draft of the President s letter as a scoop, not realizing that Zail Singh had made chan ges to the letter before sending it to Rajiv Gandhi. Ambani had won the battle a t this point. Now, while the tussle was directly between the Prime Minister Raji v Gandhi and Ramnath Goenka, Ambani made a quiet exit. The government then raide d the Express guest house in Delhi s Sunder Nagar and found the original draft wit h corrections in Mulgaokar s handwriting. By 1988-89, Rajiv s government retaliated with a series of prosecutions against the Indian Express. Even then, Goenka reta ined his iconic stature because, to many people, he seemed to be replaying his h eroic defiance during the Emergency regime.[citation needed]

Dhirubhai and V. P. Singh It was widely known that Dhirubhai didn't enjoy a cordial relation with Vishwana th Pratap Singh, who succeeded Rajiv Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India. In M ay 1985, he suddenly removed the import of Purified terephthalic acid from the O pen General License category. As a raw material this was very important to manuf acture polyester filament yarn. This made it very difficult for Reliance to carr y on operations. Reliance was able to secure, from various financial institution s, letters of credit that would allow it to import almost one full year s requirem ent of PTA on the eve of the issuance of the government notification, changing t he category under which PTA could be imported. In 1990, the government-owned fin ancial institutions like the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the General Insurance Corporation of India stonewalled attempts by the Reliance group to ac quire managerial control over Larsen & Toubro. Sensing defeat, the Ambanis resig ned from the board of the company. Dhirubhai, who had become L&T's chairman in A pril 1989, had to quit his post to make way for D. N. Ghosh, former chairman of the State Bank of India.[citation needed] [edit]Death

Final Journey: Dhirubhai Ambani's funeral saw thousands of people attending. Muk esh Ambani and Anil Ambani can be seen carrying their father's body as per Hindu traditions Dhirubhai Ambani was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a major stroke. This was his second stroke. The first on e had occurred in February, 1986 and had kept his right hand paralyzed. He was, latterly, in a state of coma for more than a week. A number of doctors were used . He died on July 6, 2002, at around 11:50 p.m. (Indian Standard Time). His funeral procession was not only attended by business people, politicians and celebrities but also by thousands of ordinary people. His elder son, Mukesh Amb ani, performed the last rites as per Hindu traditions. He was cremated at the Ch andanwadi Crematorium in Mumbai at around 4:30 PM (Indian Standard Time) on July 7, 2002.[citation needed] He is survived by Kokilaben Ambani, his wife, two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil A mbani, and two daughters, Nina Kothari and Deepti Salgaonkar. Dhirubhai Ambani s tarted his long journey in Mumbai from the Mulji-Jetha Textile Market, where he started as a small-trader. As a mark of respect to this great businessman, The M umbai Textile Merchants' decided to keep the market closed on July 8, 2002.[cita tion needed] At the time of Dhirubhai's death, Reliance Group had a gross turnov er of Rs. 75,000 Crore or USD $ 15 Billion. In 1976-77, the Reliance group had a n annual turnover of Rs 70 crore and it is to be remembered that Dhirubhai had s tarted the business with just Rs.1,50,000 (US$3500)[citation needed] The country has lost iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his own lifetime.[9] Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Former Prime Minister of India The nation had lost one of the doyens of the modern Indian corporate community, a philanthropist and above all a great human being endowed with great compassion and concern for the underprivileged sections of the society... This new star, w hich rose on the horizon of the Indian industry three decades ago, remained on t he top till the end by virtue of his ability to dream big and translate it into reality through the strength of his tenacity and perseverance he really a great person the most precious thing is he started his business with 1,50,000 and chan ge it at death time in 70 crores. I think he is the idol person of many people i f not then read the biography of Dhiru bhai ambani carefully and make yourself a confidential person like Dhiru Bhai Amabani.[citation needed] I join the people of Maharashtra in paying my tribute to the memory of Ambani and convey my heart felt condolences to the bereaved family.[10]

P C Alexander, Governor of Maharastra [edit]Reliance after Dhirubhai In November 2004, Mukesh Ambani in an interview, admitted to having differences with his brother Anil over 'ownership issues.' He also said that the differences "are in the private domain." He was of the opinion that this will not have any bearing on the functioning of the company saying Reliance is one of the stronges t professionally-managed companies. Considering the importance of Reliance Indus tries to the Indian economy, this issue and got an extensive coverage in the med ia.[11] Kundapur Vaman Kamath, the Managing Director of ICICI Bank[12] was seen in media , a close friend of the Ambani family who helped to settle the issue. The brothe rs had entrusted their mother, Kokilaben Ambani, to resolve the issue. On June 1 8, 2005, Kokilaben Ambani announced the settlement through a press release. With the blessings of Srinathji, I have today amicably resolved the issues betwe en my two sons, Mukesh and Anil, keeping in mind the proud legacy of my husband, Dhirubhai Ambani. I am confident that both Mukesh and Anil, will resolutely uphold the values of t heir father and work towards protecting and enhancing value for over three milli on shareholders of the Reliance Group, which has been the foundational principle on which my husband built India's largest private sector enterprise. Mukesh will have the responsibility for Reliance Industries and IPCL while Anil will have responsibility for Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy and Reliance Cap ital. My husband's foresight and vision and the values he stood for combined with my b lessings will guide them to scale new heights.[13] Kokilaben Ambani The Reliance empire was split between the Ambani brothers, Mukesh Ambani getting RIL and IPCL & his younger sibling Anil Ambani heading Reliance Capital, Relian ce Energy and Reliance Infocomm. The entity headed by Mukesh Ambani is referred to as the Reliance Industries Limited whereas Anil's Group has been renamed Reli ance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADA Group).[citation needed] Reliance Institute of Life Sciences, a Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation Initiative, w as established to promote higher education in various fields of life sciences an d related technologies.[citation needed] [edit]In popular media In 1998, a book published by Hamish McDonald titled "The Polyester Prince" is al so an unauthorised biography of Dhirubhai Ambani, outlining all his political an d business conquests. HarperCollins didn't sell the book in India, because the D irubhai threatened legal action.[14] As of 2010, Amazon.com listed the price boo k at >400. [15] A film said to be inspired by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani was r eleased on 12 January 2007. The Hindi Film Guru, directed by ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam, cinematography by Rajiv Menon and music by A.R.Rahman shows the struggle of a man striving to make his mark in the Indian business world with a fictiona l Shakti Group of Industries. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Mithun Chakrabor ty, Aishwarya Rai, R. Madhavan and Vidya Balan. In the film, Abhishek Bachchan p lays Guru Kant Desai, a character implicitly based on Dhirubhai Ambani. The char acter is known in the film as "GURUBHAI", similar to the real-life "DHIRUBHAI." Mithun Chakraborty portrays Manikda who bears an uncanny resemblance to the real life Ramanath Goenka and Madhvan portrays S. Gurumurthy, who gained national fa me twenty years ago, spearheading virulent attacks against the Reliance group in one of India's bloodiest corporate wars ever. In 2010, an updated version of the book went on sale in India, called Ambani and

Sons, there has been no legal action against the publisher so far.[14] [edit]Awards and recognitions November 2000 Conferred 'Man Of The Century' award by Chemtech Foundation and Ch emical Engineering World in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the g rowth and development of the chemical industry in India 2000, 1998 and 1996 Featured among 'Power 50 - the most powerful people in Asia by Asiaweek magazine. June 1998 - Dean's Medal by The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, for setting an outstanding example of leadership. Dhirubhai Ambani has the rare dist inction of being the first Indian to get Wharton School Dean's Medal [16] August 2001 Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievem ent Dhirubhai Ambani was named the Man of 20th Century by the Federation of Indian C hambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). A poll conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted Him "Greatest Creator of We alth In The Centuries". [edit]Reference and notes ^ a b Dhirubhai Ambani on 4to40.com ^ Giridharadas, Anand (2008-06-15). "Indian to the Core, and an Oligarch". The N ew York Times. ^ "The two faces of Dhirubhai Ambani by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta". India-seminar.c om. Retrieved 2010-12-31. ^ "Indian Legends, Dhirubhai Ambani. Accessed Oct, 28. 2006". Muraleedharan.trip od.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31. ^ A Short Biography of Dhirubhai Ambani on Reliance Communications Ltd. (PDF Fil e) [1] ^ "The two faces of Dhirubhai Ambani by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta". India-seminar.c om. Retrieved 2010-12-31. ^ The Great Indian Scam, Story of Missing Rs. 4000 Crore by S.K. Barua and J.S. Verma (ISBN 81-70941288) P 16 & 17 ^ "rediff.com: For this fighter, life was a big battle". In.rediff.com. Retrieve d 2010-12-31. ^ "UK". BBC News. 2002-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-31. ^ "Politicians, celebrities pay homage to Ambani - Rediff News". Rediff.com. 200 2-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-31. ^ "Mukesh Ambani admits to differences with Anil". In.rediff.com. 2004-11-18. Re trieved 2010-12-31. ^ "Key Players in Reliance Drama: K.V.Kamath". Specials.rediff.com. Retrieved 20 10-12-31. ^ "Ambanis resolve ownership battle - Rediff News". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2010-1 2-31. ^ a b " Times Have Changed ". Businessworld.in. 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2010-12-31. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/1864484683 ^ Dhirubhai Ambani becomes first Indian to get Wharton School Dean's Medal [www. rediff.com Rediff on the net] [2]- Accessed: Jan 21, 2007 [edit]External links Founder Chairman, Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology "Remembering the Prince of Polyester," Time Magazine, 15 July 2002 Dhirubhai Ambani in Memoriam, Rediff.com Dhirubhai Ambani from peopleforever.org Dhirubhai Ambani from dhirubhai.net "The Polyester Prince: Hamish McDonald Dhirubhai Ambani addressing at the ChemTech Foundation - PharmaBiz.com - Thursda y, January 23, 2003 Dhirubhai gave management a whole new 'ism' A.G. Krishnamurthy on Rediff.com Great lessons from Dhrirubhai Ambani A.G. Krishnamurthy on Rediff.com

Mukesh Ambani Son of Late Sh. Dhirubhai Ambani Dhirubhai Ambani The Wealth Creator of India (Presentation by http://www.techite .com/ ) [hide]v d eReliance Group Companies Reliance Industries Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Reliance Logistics Relian ce Solar Relicord Reliance Petroleum Reliance Fresh Institute Reliance Institute of Life Sciences Dhirubhai Ambani International School Notable People Dhirubhai Ambani Mukesh Ambani Nita Ambani Anand Jain

Achievements: Dhiru Bhai Ambani built India's largest private sector company. Cr eated 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 rew rote 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. Dhiru bhai 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 large st private sector company, Reliance India Limited, from a scratch. Over time his business has diversified into a core specialisation in petrochemicals with addi tional interests in telecommunications, information technology, energy, power, r etail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital markets, and logistics. Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with shaping India's equity culture, attracting mil lions of retail investors in a market till then dominated by financial instituti ons. Dhirubhai revolutionised capital markets. From nothing, he generated billio ns of rupees in wealth for those who put their trust in his companies. His effor ts helped create an 'equity cult' in the Indian capital market. With innovative instruments like the convertible debenture, Reliance quickly became a favorite o f the stock market in the 1980s. In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company to raise money in global marke ts, its high credit-taking in international markets limited only by India's sove reign 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 Fe deration of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). A poll conducted b y The Times of India in 2000 voted him "greatest creator of wealth in the centur y". Dhirubhai Ambani died on July 6, 2002, at Mumbai.