Battle of the billionaires: Bezos, Ambani gun for India retail supremacy

Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani, two of the world’s richest men, face a turning point in a battle for preeminence in India’s booming, nearly trillion-dollar retail market.

The outcome of a legal dispute which has embroiled the billionaires’ Amazon.com and Reliance Industries Ltd empires – where a court ruling is imminent – may shape India’s retail landscape for years to come.

The winner in the fight for Future Retail Ltd, Amazon’s estranged local partner, will get pole position in the race to meet the daily needs of more than a billion people.

Accusations of insider trading and contractual breaches, as well as nationalistic cries to keep the U.S. giant at bay, mark the high-stakes fight, which has snowballed from what began as a dispute between Amazon and Future.