Mukesh Ambani’s succession plan: A look at Akash and Isha's new role and responsibilities
Isha Ambani is set to be named chairman of Reliance retail unit a day after her twin brother, Akash, was appointed chairman of Reliance Jio.
FollowIn yet another indication of a succession plan being charted out at India's most valuable company, billionaire Mukesh Ambani, his daughter Isha Ambani is set to become Chairman of the Reliance conglomerate's retail division.
Reports suggest that Isha, currently the Director of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., will be promoted a day after her twin brother Akash was named Chairman of the telecom division - Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
Here's a look at Akash Ambani's new role and responsibilities:
Passing the baton to the next generation, Mukesh Ambani has resigned from the board of Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of the oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL), and handed over the company's reins to their son Akash.
The $217 billion company, in a statement, said its board approved on June 27, 2022, the appointment of Akash Ambani as Chairman of the Board. Akash has also been appointed as a non-executive director of Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Also read: Mukesh Ambani resigns from board of Reliance Jio, son Akash appointed Chairman
"While the choice of succession was apparent, the timing of the decision is progressive. Akash was already inducted into the family business about 8 years back and has held important positions in the Jio business, giving him enough time to get exposure to the business. He's getting an opportunity to lead the business from the front at an early age of 31 years, which gives him a great length of the runway to take the business to new heights," said Bhavishya Sharma, MD, and founder, of Athena Executive Search and Consulting (AESC).
Jio acknowledges the unique contributions that Akash has made to the development of digital services, according to the business, and rededicates him to even greater levels of the responsibility moving forward. He oversaw significant acquisitions by Jio in recent years and contributed to the creation of cutting-edge technologies like blockchain and AI-ML. The 30-year-old is also credited with being a key player in a significant agreement between the telco and tech giant Facebook, in which the latter paid about $44,000 crore for a 9.99 per cent interest in the business.
To foster an ecosystem that will advance digital solutions and make the power of data and technology more available to everyone, even those who are still on the margin, the firm expects Akash to continue operating at the forefront of innovation and technology.
Here's a look at Isha Ambani's new role and responsibilities:
Mukesh Ambani is expected to hand over the retail business reins to Isha, 30, who is married to Anand Piramal (son of Piramal Group's Ajay and Swati Piramal). Isha is set to be named chairperson of Reliance's retail unit on Wednesday, where she is currently a Director.
30-year-old Isha has studied psychology at the prestigious Yale University and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Before returning from the US, she briefly worked as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company.
Isha's elevation on the heels of brother Akash's transition to Jio chairman, kickstarts a keenly watched leadership transition in India's richest family. She was ranked second on Forbes 'Youngest Billionaire Heiresses' list in 2008 and had an estimated net worth of ₹ 471 crores.
In December 2015, prior to a full-fledged commercial launch, she and her twin brother, Akash, introduced the Jio 4G services to the company employees in front of brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan and Academy award-winning musician AR Rahman, who performed at the event. At the 2016 Lakme Fashion Week, she launched the online fashion retailer AJIO, a subsidiary of Reliance Retail managed by her. Isha and Akash were both a part of the teams that negotiated the group's investment by Meta Platforms Inc.
Akash and Isha have been on the boards of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd - the company that operates supermarkets offering consumer electronics, food and grocery, fashion, jewellery, footwear, and clothing, as well as the online retail venture, JioMart - and digital arm Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL) since October 2014.
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Anant, 26, has recently been inducted as a director on RRVL. He has been a director on JPL since May 2020.
Reliance has three broad businesses - oil refining and petrochemicals, retail and digital services, and telecom. While retail and digital services are housed in separate wholly-owned subsidiaries, the oil-to-chemical or O2C business is a functional division of Reliance. The new energy business is also with the parent firm.
The three businesses are almost equal in size. While Akash and Isha have been both active in the group's new-age retail and telecom businesses, Anant has been looking at Reliance's renewable energy and oil and chemical units as a director.
