As per a report by Bloomberg, ‘sources’ say that Mukesh Ambani made Anil “beg” for the money save him from being jailed in the Ericsson case. Although the Ambani clan publicly characterized them as amicable, two people familiar with the talks, who wished to remain anonymous discussing a family matter, used a different descriptor. Mukesh, both said, made Anil “beg” reads the report.
From the tone of the report, it becomes evident that Bloomberg is trying to show Mukesh Ambani in a bad light, at a time when he has become the richest man in Asia, and Jio is on the way to become an e-commerce and 5G telecom giant. The report has quoted anonymous sources, the agenda to demonize Mukesh Ambani become evident from the report.
In 2019, Anil Ambani lost the case against Ericsson, the Swedish Telecom company to him his Reliance Communication owed 80 million dollars. The lawyers of Ericsson proved in Supreme that Anil Ambani had given a “personal guarantee” to the company, and therefore, if Reliance Communication was not able to pay back, then he must serve a jail sentence.
Anil Ambani was 10 days away from jail term when he struck a deal with brother Mukesh Ambani, the richest person of Asia, who bailed him out despite years of deep-rooted differences. In return of the 80 million dollars, Mukesh Ambani got all the offices of Anil Ambani’s companies in Mumbai on 99 years lease, apart from victory in the sibling rivalry which started almost 18 years ago, after the death of family patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002.
After the death of Dhirubhai in 2002, the two brothers did not go well as they had very different working style and management approaches.
The leadership style of Mukesh Ambani epitomizes the traditional Indian style of running a Hindu undivided family business. He involves himself in every large-scale project and is known for his ability to visualize, conceive and implement mega projects down to the last screw and nail.
Anil, on the other hand, is more like a western businessman. He is flashy, flamboyant, urbane, high-profile, and accessible, he used to be dear to the media as he regularly threw lavish parties for them. While his brother is known for keeping a safe distance from politicians at least in the public eye, Anil was close to politicians like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh; he also got a seat in Rajya Sabha, from which he later resigned.
Mukesh Ambani was the chairman of the group and Anil was Vice-chairman of the group, but both brothers clashed regularly over the projects and finances of the company. And the clashes in managerial styles led to split between two.
Mother Kokilaben intervened in 2005 and proposed a split with refining and petrochemical businesses going to Mukesh and telecom, power, and financial services to the younger son.
Over the next few years, Anil Ambani’s wealth rose exponentially and he was being hailed as one of the most promising businessmen from India in the mid-2000s. As per the Forbes list of billionaires, Anil Ambani’s net worth was valued at a whopping 46 billion dollars in 2005.
But, in the next one and a half decades, he has destroyed all his wealth, and now, according to his own confession in a London court- his “net worth is zero”. In fact, he is sitting at a pile of debt and owns nearly a billion dollars to Chinese state-owned banks, which have filed a case in London. On the other hand, Mukesh Ambani is the richest man in Asia with a net worth of more than 50 billion dollars.
Mukesh Ambani is a shrewd businessman, who adapts and innovates in his business. The 5G plans for Jio, the deal with data giant Facebook, all bear testimony to this. The Mumbai based businessman is set to shake up the global 5G scene as Chinese Huawei gets shunned worldwide, and therefore, it is obvious that the world wants to know who they are dealing with, but they must first know the side of Mukesh Ambani that bailed his brother out in an unprofitable bet, despite serious differences.