Akash Ambani is named the new chairman of Reliance Jio while Mukesh Ambani Jio’s Golden Era is ending
RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani resigned from the Reliance Jio Infocomm board as it will be marked as an ending of Jio’s Golden Era. He gave his eldest son Akash Ambani control of the telco. Akash Ambani will now serve as Reliance Jio’s new chairman. Reliance NSE 2.08 percent Jio, the telecom and digital division of the oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd., had Akash Ambani, 30, as a non-executive director on its board (RIL).
Reliance Jio Infocomm is completely owned by Jio Platforms, of which RIL owns a 67 percent share. Ambani, 65, will continue to serve as chairman of the Jio Platforms board. “Even though he isn’t on Reliance Jio’s board, he will still be involved in the plan for expanding the company. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the action is a step towards giving Akash a more significant role to play (in the telecom).
Reliance Jio has more than 410 million subscribers, making it the largest telco in India. Mukesh Ambani’s resignation as a director of the firm was noted by the board on June 27, 2022, and would take effect as of the end of business on that day. The board also accepted Akash M. Ambani’s appointment as Reliance Jio’s new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company. The board nominated RS Gujral, a former bureaucrat, as managing director of the company for five years, and VK Chowdary, a former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), as independent directors for the same period.
Pawar succeeds Sanjay Mashruwala, who previously served as a director on the telco’s board. The younger Ambani was heavily involved in the development of the online environment surrounding Jio’s 4G service and the 2017 launch of the JioPhone designed specifically for India and intended to convert 2G subscribers to 4G.
He graduated from Brown University with a concentration in economics and joined the business board in 2014. When Reliance Jio rolled out its 4G services across India in September 2016 and offered free voice and data till December 2016, the telecom had a soft launch in December 2015 and a big bang commercial debut in September 2016. Later, the deal was extended through March 31, 2017.
Reliance Jio Platforms has raised more than Rs 1.52 lakh crore in the past two years and has sold a 32.97 percent interest to investors including Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Google, and 12 other illustrious investors like Intel, Qualcomm, Silver Lake, and KKR. Another corporate official stated that Akash was actively involved in the ground-breaking international investments by IT majors and investors in 2020, which in many ways propelled Jio onto the global investor map.
Jio’s net profit increased by 23% to Rs 14,854 crore in 2021–22 from Rs 12,071 crore the year before. Its revenue for the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2022, was Rs 77,356 crore, an increase of 10.3% over Rs 70,127 crore the year before.
