Mukesh Ambani just took a big step in terms of succession planning at Reliance Industries. He has stepped down from the board of the telecom arm Jio, and handed over the reins of the company to his son Akash.
The board of directors of Reliance Jio Infocomm met on June 27. The board at the meeting “noted the resignation of Mukesh D. Ambani as director of the company effective from close of working hours on June 27, 2022,” the company said in a notice to the stock exchanges.
It further said the board “approved the appointment of Akash M. Ambani, non-executive director as chairman of the board of directors of the company.”
Mukesh Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Industries and of its digital arm Jio Platforms, which also owns Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Succession planning has been on the mind of Mukesh Ambani for some time now.
Last December, speaking at the Reliance Family Day, Ambani gave his clearest indication yet of how things were going to shape up for the oil to retail conglomerate on the succession front.
He had said Reliance was in the process of effecting a “momentous leadership transition” and that he would like that process to be “accelerated.”
“All seniors, myself included, should now yield to the highly competent, extremely committed, and incredibly promising young leadership talent at Reliance,” he had said.
Mukesh Ambani, 65, has three children—twins Akash and Isha, and Anant. The group has identified three growth areas—retail, telecom and energy.
While neither of the three children are yet to be on the board of Reliance Industries, they have been deeply involved in key businesses like telecom, retail and energy for some time now. Akash and Isha were already on the board of Jio. Reliance launched its telecom business in 2016. Since then, the two has been involved in the major initiatives by Jio, be it the launch of the Jio Phone or Jio Fiber.
By making Akash the chairman of Jio, Ambani may be clearly marking the roles for his children.
Isha, who is also on the board of Reliance Retail Ventures, has been actively involved in the business and played a key role in the various acquisitions and product launches that Reliance Retail has done in recent years. Mukesh’s younger son Anant has been involved in Reliance’s new energy businesses.
Just as Ambani seems to have passed on the baton in Reliance Jio to Akash, it is expected that eventually he will hand over the reigns of Reliance Retail to 30-year-old Isha, who is married to Anand Piramal, the son of Ajay and Swati Piramal of the Piramal Group.
"I have no doubt that Akash, Isha and Anant as the next gen leaders will lead Reliance to even greater heights," Ambani had said at the Family Day event.
Among other changes announced on Tuesday, board member Pankaj Mohan Pawar has been named managing director of Reliance Jio Infocomm for a period of five years, effective June 27. The board also appointed Raminder Singh Gujral (former finance secretary) and K.V. Chowdary (former central vigilance commissioner) as additional independent directors on the board.
