The 65-year-old chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., Mukesh Ambani, has started succession planning at his vast retail, telecom, and energy conglomerate. Ambani resigned from the Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) board on Monday to make room for his son Akash (30) to take over as chairman of the company.
The holding company for all digital assets, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, Jio Platforms, controls RJIL in its entirety. Jio Platforms continues to have Mukesh Ambani as its chairman.
According to those acquainted with the Ambani family’s thinking, the retail industry, despite being built along similar lines, is unlikely to undergo any significant board level leadership reorganization this fiscal year, including Isha Ambani being promoted to chairman. The exact timing of Akash and Isha’s promotions to become the respective chairpersons of the telecom and retail holding companies is still being determined, although it is anticipated that they will occur simultaneously in the near future.
According to a long-time Reliance observer who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “Isha is very much in the driving seat in retail and continues to do so.” Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) is the holding company for all retail businesses, including its affiliations with internationally recognized and domestically renowned fashion and lifestyle brands, 7-Eleven convenience stores, online pharmacies, hypermarkets, supermarkets, electronics retailers, and other outlets for food and groceries.
Siblings on a par
Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), the actual running entity for the business, is a completely owned subsidiary of RRVL. Mukesh Ambani is the chairman of RRVL, same like he is with Jio Platforms. Akash and Isha Ambani have been assigned official business duties from October 2014. Both joined the boards of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. as directors before being admitted to Jio Platforms in November 2019. In March 2020, Jio Platforms appointed the youngest Anant (age 27), who was then named to the board of Retail Retail Ventures Ltd. in 2022. All three of his siblings held the same position on the boards of RRVL and Jio Platforms before his recent promotion to chairman of Jio lnfocomm. Isha and Anant will continue to remain on the boards of the telecom and retail holding companies.
No family member on RRL board
However, according to RoC statistics, no Ambani family member now serves on the board of RRL, unlike the telecom industry. Additionally, this is unlikely to alter anytime soon, according to those with knowledge of the situation. Subramaniam Venkatachalam, MD, RRVL, serves as RRL’s permanent director. Six other non-executive directors are present, three of whom are also RRVL directors. According to insider sources, this was created specifically to prevent “unnecessary distractions.”
According to the Companies Act, a person cannot become a company’s chairperson without first serving as a director of the organization. “The board of directors is chosen by the shareholders, while the board chair is chosen by the directors. In order to serve as the board’s chairman, you must first join the group “a senior legal professional remarked. “Isha is therefore not likely to take over as chairman of Reliance Retail Ltd. Instead, as Mukesh Ambani looks to step back even further from day-to-day operations over the next few years, both Akash and lsha will be promoted to chairperson of the telecom and retail holding companies at the same time.” Anant, the youngest brother, is “now learning on the job” and is “currently concentrating more on the legacy oil and gas and new energy company.” As per senior executives, “he still needs 2 to 3 years”.
Reliance declined to comment.
With the introduction of the online shopping portal Ajio in 2016, Isha, a Yale University alumna and former McKinsey & Co. consultant, played a key role in Reliance’s debut into fashion retail through e-commerce. Since then, she has presided over a number of acquisitions and a diversification into the beauty industry.
In 2020, at a $62 billion valuation, RRVL also welcomed notable investors TPG, KKR, ADIA, and General Atlantic. Through March 2022, it recorded $2.6 billion in revenue. More than 12,000 outlets are run by the division across the nation. Additionally, she serves as a director for the Reliance Foundation Institution of Education and Research (RFIER), which is building the Jio Institute, a future institution.
“Ambani is methodically putting together a transition strategy at several levels, including inviting strategic partners in the industries who have both financial and technological expertise. The twins have been running global alliances for both the retail and telecommunications industries for for a decade now “a different official who is aware of the development stated.
Source: ET Telecom
