Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant debuts in Jio Platforms as director

Jio Platforms, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has been making headlines for roping in marquee names such as Facebook, General Atlantic, KKR among others as investors. But there is one big piece of news that they haven't announced. Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, has been formally inducted into the family empire. The 25-year old debuts as additional director in Jio Platforms. "This happened just a week before the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," say sources.

Anant's siblings, Akash and Isha, are both active in the group's new age businesses. In 2014, the twin scions Isha and Akash were appointed as directors on the boards of RIL's telecom and retail businesses.

Meanwhile, Anant has often been seen at the IPL matches with his mother Nita Ambani cheering the cricket team Mumbai Indians that the group owns. The youngest Ambani is also known for being very active in the social and foundation work at the Jamnagar refinery.

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In the last one and half years, Anant has been pushed to the front to gradually take on bigger responsibilities.

Five months ago, he delivered a keynote speech on the birth anniversary of his grandfather, Reliance Industries founder Dhirubhai Ambani. Anant, like his father, had said that to serve the Reliance family is the most important mission of his life. "India should lead the change and Reliance should be at the forefront of that change," he said while adding, "Reliance meri jaan hai." (Reliance is my life.)

Sources say Anant is also being groomed for more social roles. For instance, he readily became part of the Shri Badrinath - Kedarnath Temple Committee when the Uttarakhand  government approached the family for participation. Last year, he was sent by the family to meet the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to hand over a Rs 5 crore cheque towards Maharashtra flood relief work. In fact, he was also seen making his presence felt at PM Modi's Mumbai rally as part of the 2019 general election campaign.

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Anant, who studied at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, completed his graduation from Brown University in Rhode Island.

Sources believe he is the right age and has the right platform to grow as a leader. His father Mukesh Ambani had also started early on in the family business.

The fourth industrial revolution or the digital revolution is not only disrupting the existing business, but also transforming them. Jio Platforms is capturing the future digital ecosystem covering cloud, big data, AI, IOT, blockchain etc. The soaring valuation of the Jio Platforms shows the future potential of the business. Currently, the company is valued in excess of Rs 4.91 lakh crore in terms of equity value and Rs 5.16 lakh crore in enterprise value. Marquee names like Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic and KKR have poured in Rs 78,562 crore as investments into Jio Platforms.

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