During its 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on August 28, Reliance Industries Ltd. announced the appointment of Akash, Isha, and Anant Ambani to the company’s board of directors.
In a recent resolution seeking shareholder approval for the appointment of Mukesh Ambani’s three children as directors, Reliance clarified that they will receive compensation solely for their participation in board and committee meetings, without a fixed salary. This approach contrasts with the remuneration structure for other executive directors, including Ambani’s cousins Nikhil and Hital, who receive a combination of salary, perquisites, allowances, and commission.
Akash and Isha Ambani, both 31 years old, and Anant Ambani, aged 28, will be compensated through a sitting fee and a commission based on the company’s profits.
The terms of their appointment mirror those of Mukesh Ambani’s wife, Nita, who joined the company’s board in 2014. Nita Ambani received a sitting fee of ₹6 lakh and a commission of ₹2 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23, as per the company’s latest annual report.
During last month’s annual shareholders meeting, Mukesh Ambani announced the inclusion of his three children on Reliance’s board of directors. He also confirmed his continuation as the company’s chairman and CEO for an additional five years, with a focus on nurturing and empowering the next generation of leaders.
Reliance has initiated a postal ballot to seek shareholders’ approval for the appointment of the Ambani siblings as board directors. The company’s resolution specifies that they will be compensated through fees for attending meetings, expense reimbursements for participating in various meetings, and profit-related commissions.
Reliance Industries operates across five major sectors: oil-to-chemical (O2C) business, telecom and digital services, retail (both physical and online), new energy, and financial services. Mukesh Ambani had introduced a succession plan in 2022, outlining roles for each of his children in different divisions of the conglomerate.
Notably, Isha Ambani, a graduate of Yale University with a double major in Psychology and South Asia Studies and an MBA from Stanford University, is spearheading the expansion of Reliance Retail into various categories and geographies.
Akash Ambani, an economics graduate of Brown University, leads India’s largest telecom company, Jio, focusing on developing products and services that leverage technologies like 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and the Internet of Things.
Anant Ambani, also a graduate of Brown University, is responsible for expanding Reliance’s energy and materials businesses, with a focus on renewable and green energy operations. Under his leadership, Reliance aims to become a Net Carbon Zero company by 2035.
Mukesh Ambani, who has been on the board of Reliance since 1977, has capped his annual remuneration at ₹15 crore from the fiscal year 2008-09 until FY20. Since FY21, he has chosen to forego his salary due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the company’s earnings. He has requested that no salary or profit-based commission be paid for his new term from April 19, 2024, to April 18, 2029.
The remuneration of other executive directors, including Nikhil and Hital Meswani, has risen in recent years. Nita Ambani, a non-executive director, has seen an increase in her sitting fee and commission.
In addition to the Ambani family members, Reliance’s board includes other non-executive directors, all of whom receive a commission and sitting fee. The board’s composition includes notable figures such as Dipak C Jain, Raghunath A Mashelkar, Arundhati Bhattacharya, and Yasir Othman H Al Rumayyan, among others.
K V Kamath, who joined the Reliance board in January 2023, received a sitting fee and a commission for his contributions.
