20 years & counting: How Ambani became Alibaba & Alphabet of India

On the eve of Dhirubhai Ambani’s 90th birth anniversary, pictures of his eldest son Mukesh and wife Nita, cradling their newly born twin grandchildren Aaditya and Krishna, was perhaps the perfect family portrait. It’s been two decades since Mukesh succeeded his father as the chairman and managing director of the family jewel Reliance Industries (RIL).

If Reliance’s swashbuckling founder, was the biggest disruptor and beneficiary of India’s licence raj regime of the 20th century, who broke the hegemony of the legacy business elites, unafraid to play hardball when shut out by bigger incumbents, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) is now remaking his father’s energy juggernaut into a conglomerate that is poised for the the 21st century.