Reliance on TIME cover

There was an interesting take on the Ambani's by the Time Magazine. This article was on the ET today.

The Reliance group of industries of the Ambanis figures in the cover story of Time magazine this week in which it takes a survey of the leading business families of Asia and focusses on the changing nature of family-run business empires.


The magazine, which takes a close look at the daily lifestyle of the two Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, says that there was a doubt whether they could fill their father Dhirubhai Ambani's shoes.

"People will remember you after you are gone not for your money or your power, but because of what you have left behind," the magazine quoted Mukhesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, as saying.

The magazine said that since taking over Reliance Industries as chairman and vice-chairman respectively after their father's death in 2002, Mukhesh and Anil Ambani have reinvented India's most powerful business enterprise.

The brothers have taken the company beyond its textile production and petrochemicals base into lucrative ventures in power generation , oil exploration and mobile phone services .

Last year, Reliance Industries had revenues of $16.8 billion and accounted for 3.5 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP).

Some had questioned whether Anil and Mukesh could match their father's managerial skills, even though Mukesh graduated from Stanford's Business School and Anil from Wharton School and others wondered whether the antipodean brothers could work together, Time said.

Flashy Anil, who is married to a former film actress, likes designer clothes and jogs every morning, his chauffeur driving slowly behind. Mukesh prefers spending time with his children or catching up on technical journals