Mukesh Ambani to set up family council as part of succession planning

Mukesh Ambani, the world’s fourth-richest man, is establishing a ‘family council’ to implement a collective governance construction to handle the household’s sprawling enterprise empire as a part of the group’s succession-planning course of, two folks straight conscious of the discussions stated.

The council will present equal illustration to all members of the family, together with the three Ambani siblings—Akash, Isha and Anant—who’re anticipated to take over the reins of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the folks stated, requesting anonymity because the talks are non-public.

“The move is part of succession planning of Reliance Industries and will include an adult member of the family and the three children and possibly external members who will act as mentors and advisors,” stated one of many two folks. “The council will play an important role in decision making at RIL. This forum will provide representation to each branch in the agreed manner and help take critical decisions which relate to the family or its businesses.”

Ambani, 63, is aiming to finish the succession planning course of by the tip of subsequent yr, the individual added.

By establishing the council, Ambani, now value greater than $80 billion, needs to make sure that the household has a shared imaginative and prescient of RIL’s future, and members have a standard discussion board the place conflicts, if any, will be resolved when the subsequent era takes over the reins of the corporate. Ambani might be drawing some classes from his rivalry along with his brother after the dying of their father, Dhirubhai, who based RIL in 1973. The Ambani brothers finally cut up their father’s companies.

“The proposed family council, which will emulate other wealthy families, especially multigenerational families with controlling interests in diversified businesses, will also act as an executive body to coordinate among the family members on various matters. It is expected that the three Ambani siblings will eventually head separate verticals within Reliance Industries such as — retail, digital and energy. A family council would ensure that synergies are maintained,” stated the second individual cited above.

In October 2014, Akash and Isha Ambani, joined the boards of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, as administrators. Anant, the youngest sibling, was appointed to the board of Jio Platforms as a further director in March. Akash and Isha are additionally on the board of Jio Platforms.

Isha Ambani can be a director at Reliance Foundation Institution of Education and Research (RFIER), which is establishing the Jio Institute. While Akash and Anant have each graduated from Brown University within the US, Isha has majored in psychology and South Asian research from Yale University.

In a collection of rejigs in recent times, Mukesh Ambani, his spouse Nita, and the three kids have rearranged their shareholdings in RIL by buying shares from one another.