The next generation of Ambani family - Isha, Akash and Anant Ambani - will join the board of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) as "non-executive directors", whereas, Nita Ambani, the wife of chairman Mukesh Ambani, has stepped down, the company announced on August 28.
In a regulatory filing, the company noted that Isha, Akash and Anant's appointments were given the nod by the board of directors in the meeting held earlier in the day, and their joining would come into effect following the approval from the shareholders, it added.
"The board of directors also approved the postal ballot notice in this regard," RIL said.
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The board of directors, in another key decision, accepted the resignation of Nita Ambani, RIL noted, adding that she had sought to be relieved of her charge to devote more time for the group's non-profit arm Reliance Foundation.
"Her resignation will take effect from end of business hours of today
i.e. August 28, 2023," the exchange filing stated.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani clarified during the AGM that "I shall continue to perform my duties and responsibilities as Chairman and Managing Director for five more years, with greater vigour. Towards this end, I have assigned myself three responsibilities".
Next-gen at RIL
Mukesh Ambani had, in December 2021, hinted at the beginning of a leadership transition at RIL. "I have no doubt that Akash, Isha and Anant as the next-gen leaders will lead Reliance to even greater heights," he had then stated.
The appointment of Akash, Isha and Anant as non-executive directors in RIL board is seen as a step in that direction. Here's a look at the profiles of the three Ambani scions.
Isha Ambani
Isha, the daughter of Mukesh Ambani, was introduced as the head of the conglomerate's retail business at the 45th AGM held last year. In July, she was also named as non-executive director on the board of Jio Financial Services, the demerged financial services unit of RIL.
A graduate from Yale University, Isha is now considered to be driving the expansion of Reliance Retail into new categories, geographies and formats. She was named in Time's magazine's Time100 Next list of rising starts from across industries, globally, and was also conferred with the GenNext Entrepreneur Award at the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2023.
Isha is also a member of the board of Reliance Foundation, and was said to be actively involved with the launch and operations of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai in March this year.
Isha also serves on the advisory board of the Yale Schwarzman Center, and on the board of trustees of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, Jio MAMI, and the Dia Art Foundation.
Akash Ambani
Akash, the elder son of Mukesh Ambani, was in July last year appointed as the the chairman of the board of directors of Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of Jio Platforms. He is also a member of the board of Jio Platforms, and "spearheads the creation of products and services that leverage new-age technologies like 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the Internet of Things", a release stated.
"Under his leadership, Jio crossed the 100 million subscriber mark in less than six months of its launch in 2016, and today serves over 450 million customers," it added.
In addition to the digital services business, Akash has been part of the board of Reliance Retail since October 2014. An avid sportsperson, he has also played a key role in the management of Mumbai Indians, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owned by RIL. The team has lifted the IPL trophy in five editions so far.
Similar to Isha, Akash has also been included in the Time's magazine's TIME100 Next list. He also named in the Fortune's 40 Under-40 business leaders.
In terms of educational background, Akash holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the US-based Brown University.
Anant Ambani
Anant, the youngest of Ambani's three children, is a director on the boards of Jio Platforms since March 2020, Reliance Retail Ventures since May 2022 and Reliance New Energy and Reliance New Solar Energy since June 2021. He also serves on the board of Reliance Foundation since September 2022.
"Anant is driving the expansion of energy and materials businesses of Reliance Industries and its global operations in renewable and green energy," the release issue by RIL stated.
Under his leadership, Reliance aims to become a "net carbon zero company by 2035" by building world-scale capabilities in the production of clean fuels and materials of the future, developing next-generation carbon capture and storage technologies, creating holistic and circular materials businesses, and maximising crude to chemicals conversion, it added.
Similar to his elder brother, Anant also holds a bachelor's degree from the Brown University.
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