Manoj Modi, who is known as the right hand of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, prefers to remain away from limelight and very few people outside India’s business circle even know his name. But Manoj Modi is without doubt one of the most powerful persons behind the massive business empire of India’s richest man.
Manoj Modi lives a very low-profile life and though he is the right hand of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Manoj Modi prefers to remain off the radar. Manoj Modi was largely responsible for USD 5.7 billion deal between Reliance Jio and Facebook Inc.
As Mukesh Ambani is planning to expand his reach in digital technologies domain, Manoj Modi is silently helping him ink good deals. After Facebook’s deal, Jio Platforms inked many deals with different private-equity funds, adding USD 13 billion into the business.
Nothing much is known about Manoj Modi’s personal life but it is believed that he is in his 60s. Manoj Modi does not give interviews.
“It’s not a company that advertises its organizational structure but the industry knows that Ambani and Modi are a strongly-bonded team -- and together drive deal negotiation and relentless execution to the last level of detail,” said Vani Kola, managing director of venture capital firm, Kalaari Capital Partners, who persuaded Modi to make a rare public appearance at a conference last year, albeit by video.
Manoj Modi is a director at Reliance Retail Ltd. and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. According to several senior business executives, Manoj Modi is a hard bargainer and he is very smart at clinching good deals. Manoj Modi likes to controls negotiations indirectly when dealing with startups, according to Economic Times.
Manoj Modi is a veteran at Reliance Industries as he joined the company in the 1980s when Mukesh Ambani’s late father Dhirubhai Ambani was building the oil-and-petrochemicals giant. Manoj Harjivandas Modi has studied with Mukesh Ambani at the University Department of Chemical Technology in Mumbai.
Manoj Modi has good working relations with Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani and his children Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani, who are driving the telecom and retail businesses.
