Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (born 4 June 1959) is an Indian businessman, the younger son of Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani. After the 2005 division of the family business he led the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, which included Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power and Reliance Communications. The group’s companies later accumulated heavy debts and are the subject of several investigations, which are described below as allegations and not findings.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Anil Dhirubhai Ambani |
| Born | 4 June 1959, Bombay |
| Age | 67 |
| Education | B.Sc., Kishinchand Chellaram College, Mumbai; MBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1983) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Reliance ADA Group (Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications) |
| Parents | Dhirubhai Ambani, Kokilaben Ambani |
| Spouse | Tina Ambani (m. 1991) |
| Children | Jai Anmol, Jai Anshul |
| Brother | Mukesh Ambani |
Early Life and Education
He was born in Bombay, the younger son of Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani. He studied at Kishinchand Chellaram College in Mumbai and took an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983, then joined Reliance.
Career
Inside Reliance
Under his father he worked on the group’s financial side. After Dhirubhai’s death in 2002, without a will, the brothers fell out publicly.
The 2005 division
In 2005 their mother mediated a settlement. Mukesh kept the oil, gas and petrochemicals businesses, and Anil took telecom, power and financial services. The group was renamed Reliance ADA Group in 2006.
Politics
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent member from Uttar Pradesh in 2004 and resigned in 2006.
Expansion
- **Reliance Power:** its 2008 public offering was reported to be subscribed in under a minute
- **Reliance Communications:** a major mobile operator before it was overtaken by Jio, the telecom arm of his brother’s group; it later went into insolvency
- **Media and film:** Reliance MediaWorks and a 2008 joint venture with DreamWorks
Debt, Disputes and Investigations
- **2019:** a contempt case over unpaid dues to Ericsson, which was settled after the Supreme Court warned of jail, with payment reportedly helped by his brother Mukesh
- **2020:** in a dispute with three Chinese banks in London he said that his net worth was zero after liabilities; a UK court ordered payment of about $716 million
- **Rafale offsets:** a company of his group’s role as an offset partner of Dassault drew political criticism in 2018; he and the company denied wrongdoing
- **Bank fraud probes:** on 4 February 2026 the Supreme Court, in a petition by E.A.S. Sarma, directed the Enforcement Directorate to set up a special investigation team into alleged large-scale bank fraud involving Reliance Communications and group entities, and he undertook not to leave India without the court’s permission. At a hearing on 30 April 2026 the Solicitor General said the CBI had registered eight separate cases involving about ₹41,000 crore of loans
- **ED:** the agency issued summons to him in February 2026 in a money-laundering case and by April 2026 had attached assets valued at ₹3,034.90 crore in the Reliance Communications case
- **LIC complaint:** on 18 September 2026 the CBI registered a case on a complaint from Life Insurance Corporation of India against Reliance Capital, Anil Ambani and others over an alleged ₹2,684.57 crore fraud involving debentures. His spokesperson said he denies any wrongdoing and noted that he was a non-executive director and chairman until November 2021, when the Reserve Bank of India superseded the board
None of these cases has produced a conviction. Anil Ambani has denied wrongdoing in matters in which he has commented.
Personal Life
He married the actress Tina Munim on 2 February 1991. They have two sons, Jai Anmol and Jai Anshul. His elder brother is Mukesh Ambani.
Featured image: Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Power, at the handing over of the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, New Delhi, 7 August 2007. Photo by the Ministry of Power, Government of India, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.