Mukesh Ambani , Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is the mightiest professional CEO in India. In the 13th edition of India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs led by The Economic Times, Ambani tops the list of 100 CEOs. He has replaced Ratan Tata (now at third position), who held the position for five years. The top list also contains names of Kumar Birla, Azim Premji, Chanda Kochhar, Anand Mahindra and Anil Ambani.
It has been noted that this year, three of the top ten positions are given to professional CEOs. It is known that most of India’s largest businesses are promoter-led; however emergence of professional CEOs on the forefront is a good sign. Professionals now play a wider role even in promoter-led firms. “From the 70s through mid-80s professionals were largely told what to do and they had to deliver, but now they participate much more in risk-taking and contribute to visioning,” said A Vellayan, chairman of Murugappa Group. The list appeared in Economic Times (ET)’s Corporate Dossier. The rankings have measured power on the basis of six parameters: Leadership, strategy & innovation, performance, stature, social contribution and governance. The ET Corporate Dossier Most Powerful CEOs Survey was conducted by IMRB International. Responses from 500 highly ranked executives from India’ largest corporate houses were analyzed.
With RIL waging ahead to make huge investment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the next three years, Mukesh Ambani has also greater responsibility to shoulder in the upcoming time. “The combination of vision, discipline and hunger is exceptional at Reliance. It is very rare to see these three combined in a company,” suggests Vallabh Bhansali, Chairman, Enam Securities. He added, “Mukesh’s vision for the world, for the country, his vision about how businesses are growing, is so ambitious.” In the recently held annual general meeting for its shareholders, Mukesh Ambani made it clear that this investment is an expression of the faith of Reliance in India. As a true professional he has also capped his monthly salary at Rs 15 crore since last four years and gives up Rs 24 crore for the betterment of the company. Apart from topping the list of professional CEOs, he is the most highly paid CEO of the country if the total sum of his salary is accounted for. The corporate Dossier also envisioned the future CEO’s for 2030.