Dhirubai Ambani was born on 28 December in a Modh family of modest means. He was the second son of a schoolteacher and was a high school graduate. When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300. Two years later, A. Besse & Co. started distribution of Shell products, and Dhirubhai got promotion as the manager to the company’s filling station at the port of Aden.
Dhirubhai Ambani returned to India and setup “Majin” in partnership with Champaklal Damani to import polyester yarn and export spices. Initially the Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up in Masjid Bunder with two assistants to help them with their business.
In 1966, Dhirubhai started his first textile mill at Naroda, near Ahmedabad with the brand “Vimal”. After years, Dhirubhai diversified his business into petrochemicals, telecommunications, information technology, energy, power, retail, textiles, infrastructure services, capital markets, and logistics. Reliance growth and evolution is mainly through the backward vertical integration from textiles to various businesses. It is fully integrated through the materials and energy value chain. Reliance Industries Limited is being the youngest and the largest private sector company in India and also listed as one of the Fortune Global 500 companies.
His people skills were extraordinary. He had different ways of dealing with different groups of people, be they employees, shareholders, journalists or government officials. Ambani was always a step ahead of the competitors. And eventually became a business tycoon in India making the Ambanis the richest family in the world. He learned these people skills not from the formal education but through his life experiences.
In 1998, he was honored with the Dean’s Medal by The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, for setting an outstanding example of leadership. He passed away in 2002 due to the brain stroke. The union government released a postage stamp on his first anniversary.