Succession at Reliance nearly complete, Mukesh Ambani, 69, says at shareholders meeting
The handover of the day-to-day operations of Reliance Industries Ltd to the third-generation of the founding Ambani family is near complete, chairman Mukesh Ambani said
The handover of the day-to-day operations of Reliance Industries Ltd to the third-generation of the founding Ambani family is near complete, chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the company’s 49th annual general meeting (AGM). Ambani’s three children—Isha (34), Akash (34) and Anant (31)—who have been on the Reliance Industries board for three years now, will look after the company’s consumer, technology and energy businesses, respectively, he said. Ambani, 69, said the next generation of promoters have the same “founder’s mindset” that he had when he took over 25 years ago. They will also have his guidance and mentorship as well as that of the company’s other directors, allaying potential shareholder concerns over the transition. Moreover, the company has trained around 500 leaders in their 30s and 40s to assist the next generation, he added. “Even as I continue to provide hands-on leadership, the generational transfer of day-to-day management at Reliance is almost complete,” Ambani said in his address. Also Read | IPO-bound Jio Platforms weighs satellite network to rival Starlink Although carefully scripted, investors keenly follow the Reliance chairperson’s AGM speech, as it is one of the rare occasions where he directly speaks to shareholders on camera. Ambani rejected any potential concern over whether the group’s businesses would go separate ways under the next generation: "While leading individual business verticals, they are simultaneously working towards the holistic growth of everything under the Reliance ecosystem. They are three bodies, one soul. Their soul is Reliance. One single indivisible Reliance." Just over two decades ago, the Reliance group split into two separate business groups, after the sudden demise of founder Dhirubhai Ambani.
On Friday, Reliance Industries shares closed 1.39% lower on the BSE at ₹1,309.35, compared with a 0.78% slip in benchmark Sensex. It has lost nearly 17% since the beginning of 2026. The Reliance scrip has lost between 1% and 2.3% on the day of four out of the previous five AGMs, making an exceptional 1.64% gain in 2024. "There have been talks of demerging three verticals (retail, energy and telecom) for a long time, and it is likely to happen now that Jio's IPO DRHP is out. However, it does not appear, as of now, that this demerger is a legal segregation of business and ownership between the siblings. In other words, whether through the parent company or another structure, the Ambanis plan to keep legal ownership joint. Definitely not now, but in the longer term, this may make the markets nervous, since any dispute will jeopardize operations across all verticals. That is why Mr Ambani probably wants to make it clear that no such possibility exists and that the Reliance group has proven that siblings can remain under one legal umbrella, function autonomously, and succeed," said Ajit Joshi, chartered accountant and professor of finance at L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research. Aiming for the bourses and the stars The biggest AGM announcement was the one regarding the initial public offering of Jio Platforms Ltd, which operates the country's largest mobile services provider Jio. The third-generation promoters were leading the Jio IPO process, Ambani said. Jio was considering a plan to go toe-to-toe with American trillionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink with its own fleet of low-earth orbit communication satellites, Akash Ambani said at the meeting.
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