Drumroll, please! We’ve just unveiled Asia’s most influential list at Inside Retail Asia, a collection of the region’s changemakers, rulebreakers and innovators. Each week, we will shine a light on the brilliant leaders who made the top 10. Here we’re profiling Mukesh Ambani, who came second on the list and is chairperson and managing director of Indian retail giant, Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries is one of India’s largest business conglomerates, with a presence in fields inc
including textiles, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and – through subsidiaries Reliance Retail and Reliance Brands – the nation’s largest retail group.
Since Ambani founded Reliance Retail in 2006, its reach has grown to span groceries, apparel, footwear, toys, home improvement products, electronics, health, and rural supplies, its banners including Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Hamleys, JioMart, Dunzo, Ajio, Fynd and Urban Ladder.
Reliance Brands has partnerships with international brands Armani Exchange, Tiffany, Bally, Superdry, Burberry, Coach, Tumi, Diesel, and many others. It operates 680 standalone stores for its partner brands, and a further 916 shops-in-shops.
With a network of more than 12,000 stores, the two companies span almost every major retail category. In FY20, Reliance’s retail businesses turned over US$21 billion and achieved an operating profit of $1.3 billion.
As Reliance Industries’ major shareholder, 65-year-old Ambani was assessed by Forbes this year as having a net worth of US$96.9 billion. Last year, he was one of the Top 5 World’s Most Famous, Most Reputable CEOs in Brand Finance’s global Brand Guardianship Index 2021.
Despite Reliance’s massive share of India’s retail market, Ambani is showing no sign of relaxing investment in the sector. Last year, Reliance Retail acquired leading Southern Indian grocery chain Jaisuryas, leading women’s intimate wear brand Amante, and leading women’s saree and ethnic wear brand Kalanikethan.
Editor’s note: Reuters reported that Ambani’s Reliance Industries had bought 15 million barrels of oil from Russia since it invaded Ukraine. We considered removing him from this list but concluded that while his ethics may be called into question over that issue, he remains the most influential player in India’s retail industry.
