From a very young age Dhirubhai Ambani worked extremely hard to get himself out of the extreme poverty he was born into. Mr. Ambani self educated himself, and became independent with a vision to one day be successful. With little money he founded Reliance
Industries which focused on the trade of many products within the borders of India, he even expanded the company to include outside trade. His trade company became one that grew to one of the richest family businesses in all of India. With the financial assistance of many investors he was able to run his business the way he envisioned it. Reliance Industries appeared to be structured similar to many U.S. family businesses.
Mr. Ambani was the boss, his wife was his mediator/consultant, and his sons were groomed to one day lead the company into the future. Unfortunately Mr. Ambani passed away too soon, and his prosperous company did not know who was going to lead them. In India, Hindu law requires for the eldest son to automatically be given the companies head position. Reliance industry went another way though, they went ahead and did what a successful business would do rather than follow Hindu law. They thought about the success of the business first rather than follow a law that probably never seen a company like Reliance Industries. They based their decision on what
Mr. Ambani would have wanted, and that is to ensure that the business he started will continue to grow and flourish. Proper family business logic means that the successor should be given to the family member who has demonstrated the ability to lead the company when given to them. The decision should not be based on age. The two sons in this story are Mukesh Ambani and Anil
Ambani. Mukesh was the oldest son, but Anil was the best decision of the two of them. During the time after their father’s