Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2004), founder of Reliance Industries, rose from humble beginnings in Gujarat to build India's largest private sector company (market cap ~$15B).
He was born to a modest Modh Baniya family in Chorwad. His father was a school teacher.
His early education was in a village school and he dropped out after matriculation due to financial constraints.
At age 16, he moved to Aden (Yemen) to work as a gas station attendant and clerk for A. Besse & Co. (the largest trading firm in the region).
In 1958, he returned to India with savings; joined as a clerk in Stanmore Industrial Corporation (Mumbai), dealing in spices.
The same year, he co-founded Reliance Commercial Corporation with ₹15,000 capital (partner Champaklal Damani); started trading in polyester yarn and spices from a small 350 sq ft office in Masjid Bunder, Mumbai.
In the 1960s, he built a yarn trading business - Reliance Textiles and Engineers Ltd. and launched first textile mill in Naroda, Ahmedabad. He navigated 1962 Indo-China War shortages by importing polyester.
The Vimal brand was launched in 1977. Reliance Textiles IPO on Bombay Stock Exchange was oversubscribed 7 times, democratizing stock ownership for retail investors.
With the company's rapid expansion into textiles, it became India's largest textile exporter.
In the 1980s, Reliance diversified into petrochemicals; built Patalganga plant (1982); equity cult grew with massive public issues (e.g., 1982 partial convertibles raised ₹40 crore, oversubscribed).
The liberalization era in the 1990s boosted growth and the world's largest grassroots refinery at Jamnagar was commissioned (and later expanded).
Ambani faced numerous accusations of market manipulation, tax evasion, and cronyism.
In the early 2000s, Reliance expanded into telecom (Reliance Infocomm, 2002), retail, power, and more leading to a market cap surge.
In the photo - Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani with their children, Anil, Mukesh, Dipti and Nina. Source: Jio Institute Digital Library
Died of a major stroke in 2004. He was succeeded by sons Mukesh and Anil.
He was posthumously awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, in 2016, for his ‘exceptional and distinguished’ service to trade and industry.