Throwback: When Ambani brothers broke up

The founder of one of India's biggest corporates Reliance Group did not leave a will behind when he passed away in 2002, which resulted in a massive feud between his two sons. The corporate house that Dhirubhai Ambani built over 30 years, almost from nothing, was staring at a rare slump because of an ugly fight between two brothers Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani over the control over Reliance.

A group which was once the darling of investors was about to crumble due to this mess. No other Indian company had managed to straddle the old and the new economy with such a remarkable success. Dhirubhai’s Reliance was, in almost every which way, a fairy-tale which many corporates could dream of.

After Dhirubhai died, Mukesh Ambani became the chairman and managing director and younger Anil Ambani was vice-chairman. On the surface, everything looked settled for a while as far as business functions were concerned. No outsiders knew that there was a storm brewing under the calm and the brothers' feud came into public view in 2004. Two scions of Ambani family washed their dirty linen in public. There were so much drama — calling each other out during press conferences, letters to the Prime Minister, etc.

But on the anointed day of June 18, 2005, chosen by mother of the two brothers, Kokilaben, the deal to split the Reliance empire was announced by her. So, Reliance Industries, including interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas exploration, refining and textiles, went to Mukesh Ambani. Younger brother Anil Ambani was bestowed with financial services businesses, power, entertainment and telecoms. Anil Ambani declared that his net worth is zero in 2020 while Mukesh Ambani today features among the top 10 richest businessmen in the world.