Like father, like son – so they say. It was over three decades ago when Mukesh Ambani dropped out of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and joined his father’s business – Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Now, his eldest son Akash is following in his footsteps. Ambani Jr., has joined the telecom arm of RIL, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL). He’s involved in finalising the go-to-market strategy of the ambitious 4G telecom venture, said two persons aware of the development. Akash also has an office at Reliance’s Corporate Park in Navi Mumbai and is seen here regularly.
According to a well-placed source within RIL, Akash comes to the office regularly and attends revbiew meetings with MukeshAmbani and ManojModi. He is also working in close proximity to RJIL’s group president Sandip Das. He is also learning the ropes of the business. He is also working closely with Das in preparing a comprehensive plan for Reliance Jio that will include strategies for customer acquisition, service, call centres and related issues.
Mukesh Ambani has taken a keen interest in his son’s development at RIL. He insists that Akash sits through all the critical meeting of Reliance Jio. This is similar to how Mukesh learnt the ropes of the business. He would shadow his father, Dhirubhai Ambani at every meeting. This is the way Ambani Sr. was initiated into RIL. He went on setup India’s biggest refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat along with setting with the telecom venture at the dawn of the new millennium.The Ambani Children are being groomed to play a key role at RIL. The twin children of Mukesh and Nita Ambani, Akash and Isha are both Ivy League Graduates (Akash from Brown, Isha from Yale). Isha is likely to join Reliance Foundation.
The man handed the mantle of mentoring Akash is ManojModi according to company sources. Modi has played a critical role in setting up the Hazira petrochemicals complex, the Jamnagar refinery, the first telecom business, Reliance Retail and now the 4G rollout. The 4G project provides the right opportunity for the younger Ambani to learn the basics of setting up a venture from scratch said some of those cited above.
This initiation of Mukesh Ambani elder son is seen as a conscious decision by RIL because the business combines both the need for innovation and taps into the aspirations of the younger generation. Akash is part of a venture that has grown rapidly from less than 700 professionals a year ago to over 3,000 employees. RIL, which is said to have aggressive plans to roll out a nationwide voice and data network to rival that of the incumbents, bid around Rs 11,000 crore for spectrum in auctions that ended last week. Reliance Jio, a subsidiary of RIL, is the first telecom operator to hold a pan-India unified licence, which means it can offer all telecom services everywhere in India.