Reliance Succession: A large fortune of Asia's richest Mukesh Ambani starts a risky transition
Mukesh Ambani a centi-billionaire — they may well determine the hold of the family-run conglomerate on India’s broader economy when control passes to the next generation.
That transition could arrive by 2028. At Reliance Industries Ltd.’s annual general meeting Monday, the 66-year-old announced that his three children would be joining the board, even as he continues as chairman and managing director for five more years.
Reliance’s sway has grown following a $150 billion investment spree over the past decade.
It now controls 15% of the total fixed capital deployed at India’s top 300 nonfinancial firms, employs 7% of the workforce and garners 10% of their combined EBITDA. Reliance is no longer just a corporate, but “a precious Indian institution,” Ambani said.
The market, however, wants to see some of that preciousness translate into a higher share price.
After recently spinning off a new consumer-finance venture worth $16 billion, the enterprise is valued at $232 billion, including net debt. Macquarie Group Ltd.
analysts downgraded the stock to “underperform” last month. A premium for retail and telecom may already be embedded in the share price, and investors may be assessing new energy — the group’s next big bet — at around $20 billion, they wrote.
That's already rich for an unproven thesis.
Reliance wants to put up gigafactories to manufacture solar modules from sand, low-cost wind turbines using carbon fiber from its own plants, batteries powered by lithium and sodium ions, and electrolyzers to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Considering that these plans are still in progress, the $20 billion implied valuation carries a lot of respect for Ambani’s reputation for project execution, chops the younger generation is
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