Mukesh Ambani resigns from board of Reliance Jio, son Akash made chairman

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has resigned from the board of his group’s telecom arm, Reliance Jio and handed over the reins of the company to elder son Akash, a step seen as succession planning by the 65-year old billionaire.

In a stock exchange filing, Reliance Jio Infocomm said the company’s board at a meeting on June 27, “approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the board of directors of the company.” This comes after his father resigned with effect from close of working hours on June 27, it said.

The announcement comes days ahead of the RIL AGM where Street is expecting demerger plans from the oil-to-telecom conglomerate.

Among other appointments, Pankaj Mohan Pawar was appointed Managing Director of the company for five years beginning June 27.

Raminder Singh Gujral and K V Chowdary were appointed independent directors for a period of five years commencing from June 27, 2022, it added.

Akash Ambani takes over at a time when the Indian telecom firms will be rolling out 5G network in a few months and are looking at increasing the average revenue per user, a key metric to suggest profitability in the industry.

On Tuesday, RIL’s scrip on BSE closed 1.5% higher at Rs 2,529.

Mukesh Ambani will continue to be the Chairman of Jio Platforms Ltd, the flagship company that owns all Jio digital services brands, including Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Akash Ambani has graduated from Brown University with a major in Economics.

Akash Ambani led the key acquisitions made by Jio in the digital space in the last few years and has also been keenly involved with development of new technologies and capabilities, including AI-ML and blockchain. He was also closely involved with the creation of the digital ecosystem around Jio’s 4G proposition.

Last year, Ambani said that his kids were taking more responsibilities as part of the leadership shift. He said he could see in his children the same spark and potential of his father Dhirubhai Ambani — Reliance’s founder — for contributing to India’s growth, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

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