Two Brothers, Two Destinies: Rs 4,100-Crore Gulf Between Mukesh and Anil Ambani’s Personal Wealth

Since the divide of their fortune 13 years ago, the Ambani brothers, despite sharing the same name, have two different dynasties in the making. In the past year, the fortunes of the two brothers, at the top of India’s wealthiest, have grown apart -- by more than Rs 4,100 crore, reports the Economic Times.

Elder brother Mukesh, currently Asia’s wealthiest man, after leading a telecommunications revolution in India that spearheaded his petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. into the $100 billion club, has a present personal fortune of Rs 4,330 crore, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Alibaba’s Jack Ma lags Rs 520 crore behind Mukesh.

His younger brother, Anil, has had a comparatively difficult year on his hand. A few of Anil Ambani’s businesses are suffering legal and liquidity challenges that affected stocks, cutting his personal fortune by almost half to Rs 150 crore, according to the index.

After a feud between the brothers in 2005, mother Kokilaben intervened to settle the dispute. Mukesh got control of the flagship oil refining and petrochemicals vertical and Anil got the newer businesses such as power generation and financial services. Mukesh later took over the telecom vertical and expanded aggressively by bundling phones with mobile connections at throwaway prices.