Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani hints at succession, ‘In process of momentous leadership transition’
Ambani’s children Akash, Isha and Anant are already on the boards of the group companies. “I have no doubt that Akash, Isha and Anant as the next-gen leaders will lead Reliance to even greater heights,” Ambani said.
FollowReliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani in his first statement on succession plans hinted that the group is “in the process of effecting a momentous leadership transition.” In a virtual speech on the occasion of Reliance Family Day, Ambani said seniors, including him, should now “yield” to competent, committed and talented young leadership at Reliance.
“Reliance is now in the process of effecting a momentous leadership transition… From seniors belonging to my generation to the next generation of young leaders. I would like this process to be accelerated,” he said.
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“We should guide them, enable them, encourage them... and sit back and applaud as they perform better than us… At Reliance, we must build an organizational culture that outlasts its leaders,” said Ambani.
Ambani, 64, took over as chairman of RIL after his father’s death in 2002. His three children, Akash, Isha and Anant, have been involved in RIL’s telecom, retail and energy businesses. While none is on the board of RIL, they are directors in the company’s key arms. “I have no doubt that Akash, Isha and Anant, as the next-gen leaders, will lead Reliance to even greater heights. I can see and feel their passion, commitment, and devotion to the cause of Reliance every day. I see in them the same spark and potential that my father had for making a difference to millions of lives and contributing to India’s growth,” Ambani said.
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“Let us all wish them good luck in their mission to make Reliance ever more successful with even more transformative initiatives and achieving even greater accolades for our Reliance,” he added.
“All seniors — myself included — should now yield to the highly competent, extremely committed, and incredibly promising young leadership talent at Reliance,” Ambani said. “We should guide them, enable them, encourage them and empower them … and sit back and applaud as they perform better than us.”
The RIL group has three verticals: energy business, digital arm Jio and retail business. It has a market capitalisation of Rs 16.21 lakh crore. The Ambani family owns 50.62 per cent stake in the company. Ambani also said the time is now to “lay the foundation for Reliance’s future growth over the coming decades” by seizing the humungous opportunity.
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His statement comes ahead of Sebi’s April 2022 deadline to split the chairman and managing director positions in listed companies. While Sebi has extended the timeline for listed entities to comply with its new norm, chairman Ajay Tyagi said on Tuesday, “We have given enough time to the industry for splitting the post of chairman and managing director. I can only make an appeal to the industry to follow it.”
