BIRTH

• D.O.B.- 28.12.1932

•He born at Chorwad, of Gujurat

•Father - Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani -a school teacher

•Mother- Jamanaben• Two brothers and two sisters.

CHILDHOOD Extremely demanding child.

As he grew up, he became even more vigorous, and irrepressible.

Possessed immense gusto and enormous energy.

Always determined to do what he wanted to do, in exactly the way he wanted it done, come hell or high water, as the phrase goes.

Education• After he completed his primary education, at the village school,

he was sent to the Junagarh Dist. for further studies.

• Quite popular in his school and well- known for his brilliance and hard-work.

• Elected general secretary of the Junagarh Students Union.

Socialist days

Dhirubhai campaigned for the Socialists.

His elder brother and father were strongly opposed to this decision, especially as he had failed in his matriculation examination in the previous year.

The candidates for whom he had campaigned won.

Dhirubhai was pleased and was invited to join the Socialist Party but he had other things in mind.

"Though I found the life of politics immensely attractive, I felt deep in my heart that I belonged to somewhere else…business, perhaps, though things were not yet so clear to me," he said in his later years.

Life in Aden

• After his annual matriculation examination, on the request of his father he had to move to Aden, Yemen to support his family.

• Aged 16 yrs.

• Started worked with A. Besse & Co. as a dispatch clerk for a salary of Rs.300, immediately on reaching Aden.

• A. Besse & Co.-- largest transcontinental trading firm east of Suez, engaged in almost every branch of trading business-cargo booking, handling, shipping, forwarding, and wholesale merchandising.

• Dhirubhai -first sent to the commodities trading section & later, transferred to the section that handled petroleum products for the oil giant Shell.

• quick on the uptake; learnt the ways of commodity trading.

During 1950s• In the 1950s, the Yemini administration realized that

their main unit of currency, the Rial, was disappearing fast.

• It was found that a young man in his twenties was placing unlimited buy orders for Yemini Rials.

• Rials, pure silver coins and was in much demand at the London Bullion Exchange. Young Dhirubhai bought the Rials, melted them into pure silver and sold it to the bullion traders in London.

Entrepreneurship’s true sense lies in the fact that he always looks upon opportunity.

• Roamed the bazaars of Aden where traders from different backgrounds, bought and sold goods worth millions of pound sterling during the lunch break an after office hours.

• Temptation towards speculation- started trading in small things- Learnt the basics.

• Read newspapers, magazines, book, etc. – relating to business, history, and psychology.

• 1954-Ambani’s marriage and 1st oil refinery and harbor came up in Aden. Promotion to Ambani.

1954- Marriage with Kokilaben

EARLY YEARS IN BOMBAY • Enters into partnership with cousin Champaklal Damani in 1962 for

yarn and spices business with a capital of Rs.15,000.

• Ends partnership in 1965 due to conflicts of decisions.

• Starts sole proprietorship concern.

• Asia Times quotes: "His people skills were legendary. “

• A former secretary reveals: "He was very helpful. He followed an 'open-door' policy. Employees could walk into his cabin and discuss their problems with him."

First Step Backward

decided to start a textile unit of his own

decided to buy a old mill and renovate it

But just when the deal was to be initiated, one of the partners back stepped from the agreement

From then on he decided to build on his own using the best technology irrespective of the cost

First factory was built in Naroda, Gujarat which was still a developing area.

Most of his team members were uneducated except for an engineer and 2 matriculates

He was an all-in-one package and fixed the troublesome nitty-gritty's.

Nylon was decided to be manufactured.

Devaluation by the government steeply raised the project cost.

Problem of locating trained and experienced textile mill workers

In spite of all difficulties, production started on the morning of the target date of 1 September 1966

Motivator and Person of his Words

• Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with starting equity investing in India. More than 58,000 investors from various parts of India subscribed to Reliance's IPO in 1977.

• Dhirubhai was able to convince people of rural Gujarat that being shareholders of his company will only bring returns to their investment.

• Reliance Industries holds the distinction that it is the only Pvt. Co. whose several annual general meetings were held in stadiums.

Diversification• In 1982 Ambani began the process of backward

integration, setting up a plant to manufacture polyester filament yarn.

• He subsequently diversified into chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, power. The company as a whole was described by the BBC as "a business empire with an estimated annual turnover of $12bn, and an 85,000-strong workforce".

• The final phase of Reliance’s diversification occurred in the 1990s when the company turned aggressively towards petrochemicals and telecommunications.

DEATH

Admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a second major "brain stroke”.

First one had occurred in February 1986 and had kept his right hand paralyzed.

State of coma for more than a week.

Breathed his last on July 6,2002, at around 11:50 P.M.

As a mark of respect,The Mumbai Textile Merchants' decided to keep the market closed on July 8, 2002.

At the time of Dhirubhai's death, Reliance Group had a gross turnover of Rs. 75,000 Crore or USD $ 15 Billion and it is to be remembered that Dhirubhai had started the business with just Rs.15,000

WORK TO THE SOCIETY

Educational Initiatives • (DA-IICT)- Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of

Information and Communication Technology - established by The Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation (DAF) at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Community Development• Gave importance for community development.

The DAF has joined the management of Sir Hurkisondas Nurottumdas Hospital and Research Centre (HNH&RC)

It is a 28-year-old institution involved in clinical research

DAF converted this hospital into a patient-focused and not-for-profit.

Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Lodhivali, District Raigad

Healthcare Initiatives

Guru- film based on Dhirubhai ambani

9 great management lessons from Dhirubhai Ambani

• Dhirubhaism No 1: Roll up your sleeves and help.

• sense of ‘do it yourself’ • He does not wait for

infrastructure to be created to support his operations. He goes out and builds it himself; be it a power plant for his petrochemical enterprise or a canal to bring water from large distances for his cooling plant.

"Small men like me don't inspire big words!"

Dhirubhaism No 2: Be a safety net for your team.

• he gently asked his employees if They needed any help in combating the problems they faced.

• • knowledge that he knew and cared

for what his team was going through, and that he was there for Them if needed him….worked wonders for confidence.

“He gave courage which we never new we had”

Dhirubhaism No 3: The silent benefactor.

• When he helped someone, he never ever breathed a word about it to anyone else

• "Expect the unexpected" just might have been coined for him.

Dhirubhaism No 4: Dream big, but dream with your eyes open.

• Whenever a task seemed too big to be accomplished, he would reply: " No is no answer!" Not only did he dream big, he taught all of us to do so too.

• his favorite phrase "dream with your eyes open"

"It's difficult but not impossible!"

5. Dhirubhaism: Leave the professional alone!

• management techniques of him is different

• the simplest strategies are often the hardest to adopt.

• “let professionals do the

work”

• This technique enforced responsibility among his team"Produce your best."

6. Dhirubhaism: Change your orbit, constantly!

• Dhirubhai's "orbit theory."

• This is no miracle.

• when you change orbits, you will create friction. The good news is that your enemies from your previous orbit will never be able to reach you in your new one. By the time resentment builds up in your new orbit, you should move to the next level. And so on.

Changing orbits is the key to our progress as a nation.

7. The arm-around-the-shoulder leader

• It was Dhirubhai's very own signature style

• Arm around the shoulder -With that one simple gesture, he managed to achieve many things.

• This tendency that he had, to draw people towards him, manifested itself in countless ways.

…that did much more than words in letting me know that I belonged, that I had his trust, and that I had him on my side!

8. The Dhirubhai theory of Supply creating Demand

• He was not an MBA. Nor an economist. But yet he took traditional market theory and stood it on its head. And succeeded.

• when everyone in India would build capacities only after a careful study of market, he went full steam ahead and created giants of manufacturing plants with unbelievable capacites.

9. Money is not a product by itself, it is a by-product, so don't chase it

• He did not breathe a word about profits, nor about becoming the richest

• A by-product is something that you don't set out to produce. It is the spin off when you create something larger.

Success • Success in attaining that goal will eventually ring

in the cash. For instance, if you work towards creating a name for yourself and earning a good reputation, then money is a logical outcome.

• People will pay for your product or service if it is good

• Sounds too simplistic for belief? Well, look around you and you will know exactly how true it is.