India's Ambani hands Reliance telco unit to son in first step to leadership change

Agencies | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has stepped down from the telecoms arm of Reliance Industries, handing the reins to his son Akash and setting the stage for a leadership transition at his energy-to-retail conglomerate.

Mukesh's 30-year-old son Akash has been appointed chairman of the board of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Akash was already a non-executive director at the telecoms arm.

Mukesh Ambani, who ranked tenth on the Forbes global billionaire's list, signaled last year his children would have significant roles in the family's business, which has grown six-fold in the past decade into a $218 billion empire.

Reliance is "in the process of effecting a momentous leadership transition", he said at an event in December.

Analysts say the 65-year-old has positioned experienced executives and long-time friends and family to steer his children through the transition, and they have taken larger roles at annual general meetings and led some company announcements.

Shares in Reliance Industries rose 2.7% on Wednesday.

Akash Ambani, who attended Brown University, was part of a team that brokered a $5.7 billion investment in 2020 by Meta Platforms (META.O) in Jio Platforms, a Reliance unit.

Akash's twin sister Isha is a director on the boards of Jio as well as Reliance Retail, which houses the conglomerate's ambitious bets in India's brick-and-mortar space. Media reports have tipped her as the next chairperson of the retail business.

The youngest of the siblings, Anant, is a director at Reliance's renewable energy, and oil and chemical units.