The billionaire industrialist and chairman of Reliance Industries spoke openly about his childhood in a YouTube interview called Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. Although he and his wife Nita were strict with their children Akash, Isha, and Anant, Dhirubhai had a “severe” temper with him and his brother Anil.
Mukesh Ambani is one of the world’s wealthiest men, and his journey to billionaire status is the stuff of legends. But how did the heir to the throne grow up? Imagine being crammed into a one-room apartment with nine other individuals. As a kid, how about being put to the garage as a punishment? The narrative of a self-confessed shy man who merely wanted to make his father proud lies behind the mansions, private security, and spectacle of being an Ambani.
Mukesh revealed details about his past before becoming ultra-rich in his first interview with Simi Garewal, which was posted on YouTube in 2012.
The start of Reliance
The phenomenal success of Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance Industries is legendary. While the businessman began with a table, chair, and phone, Mukesh grew the company to a multibillion-dollar corporation. He recalls going home from school as a child to sit with his father for hours, watching him make business decisions, according to the interview. He attributes his achievement to his father and claims that he has always kept focused on the end goal.
Living in poverty
Mukesh may now be a multibillionaire with a mansion that has been labelled one of the world’s most expensive homes, but there was a time when he had to share a single room with nine other people. In the interview, he describes how growing up in a one-bedroom flat with his parents and siblings was one of his greatest childhood memories, claiming that it was his very first childhood memory and that he always felt safe there.
His dad had a temper
Although Dhirubhai is a well-known figure in India, Mukesh reveals that his father had a “severe” temper. The millionaire recalls how he and his brother/rival Anil were chastised as young boys for misbehaving. The two brothers ate the meal prepared for the visitors and jumped on the sofa when the family had guests over. While his father initially laughed it off, the next day he locked them in the garage with nothing but water and roti and told them they had to repent. Mukesh was ten years old at the time. He claimed they had learned their lesson and would never be naughty again when guests came over.
Witnessing his father’s stroke
Dhirubhai’s fury used to flare up, but Mukesh claims that this has since changed. The father and son had a tight relationship, and Mukesh describes how he observed his father’s first stroke with tears in his eyes. On February 16, 1986, they were watching cricket when Dhirubhai told his son that his back hurt. He became unconscious and was transported to the hospital. The next 24 hours, doctors warned the family, would be crucial.
Instead of questioning where he was and what had happened when Dhirubhai awoke, he reassured Mukesh, “Don’t worry, I’ll make it.” Mukesh believes his father’s care for consoling him about what had happened said a lot about the kind of guy he was. Dhirubhai Ambani died in 2002 after suffering his second stroke, creating a void in the Ambani family.
