Veteran banker Srikanth Venkatachari is one of the most important deputies of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani. He holds one of the most vital financial jobs in the country. He is the Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest company by market cap (Rs 17,72,456 crore), revenue (Rs 9,74,864 crore), and net profit (Rs 73,670).
Venkatachari took over as RIL’s new CFO earlier this year as Alok Agarwal’s successor after the long-term CFO was given a new role of senior advisor to Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani. He joined RIL around 14 years ago after spending nearly two decades at banking giant Citibank. He had been Reliance’s joint CFO since 2011. Agarwal had been RIL CFO since 2005.
Venkatachari is known as a calm and collected professional with proven mettle. He played a key role in the largest ever foreign currency bond issuance by an Indian company when Reliance raised $4 billion in 2022. He was vital to the Mukesh Ambani-led effort to turn RIL into a zero-debt company. Venkatachari has an enormous task on his shoulders handling the money side of the massive conglomerate that has around 500 business arms with the scale growing multifold.
When he gets time from managing the finances at RIL, Venkatachari likes playing chess. He likes travelling around India discovering the country. He comes from a family of chartered accountants. In 2021, Venkatachari purchased two apartments in a sea-facing '25 South' residential tower in Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai, according to an Economic Times report. The apartments Situated on the 41st floor spanned over 6,685 square feet reportedly cost over Rs 40 crore. As Key Managerial Personnel, Venkatachari received payment of Rs 17 crore in FY 2022-23, up from Rs 15 crore in FY22, according to RIL's Annual Financial Report.
