Dhirubhai Ambani needs no introduction but his struggle behind creating the largest conglomerate-Reliance Industries Limited needs a serious study. The visionary businessman didn’t have an easy life. Born to a village school teacher, he had basic schooling at Bahadur Khanji school, in Gujarat. He took up a modest business of selling pakodas to support his family financially. Very little did he know that destiny had something big in store for him. He moved to Aden, Yemen to work at a gas station as a petrol vendor. He made Rs 300 per month but this deterred his dreams and he returned to India to start his entrepreneurial journey.
After eight years of hardwork, Dhirubhai came back to his motherland in 1958 with just Rs 500 in his pocket. With this small amount, he took the risk of starting a textile trading company, ‘Majin’ with his cousin Champaklal Damani. However, the partnership didn’t last long and Ambani founded his company Reliance which focused on the textile at the time. Under his astute leadership and hardwork, the small cloth factory became the market leader. Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) witnessed staggering growth and it soon went public with an IPO priced at Rs 1000.
The rest is history as Dhirubhai’s Reliance Industries Limited today stands as India’s largest company valued at Rs 2051795 crore. The company expanded its arm in various sectors including hydrocarbon exploration, telecommunication, retail, petrochemicals and petroleum refining. In 2002, the business tycoon suffered a major stroke and left behind a legacy for his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani. Following his death, the Reliance Group was split into Reliance Industries Limited headed by Mukesh, and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group headed by Anil. As of now, Reliance Industries Limited ranks among the top 100 in the Fortune 500 list of the world's largest companies by revenue.
