The next billgates?

For a few weeks in 2007, India's Mukesh Ambani knocked off Bill Gates to become the world's richest man. Then the number crunchers admitted they'd got their figures wrong. Even so, Ambani still earns about $254 every second. Not bad for a man whose father started out selling samosas... alan ewens takes a look at the man behind the billions

Last October, India's news media went into meltdown with the news that Mukesh Ambani had become the world's richest man. An agency report putting his wealth at $63.2 billion hailed his rise as another triumph for India's booming economy.

Unfortunately for the jingoists, Ambani's wealth had been incorrectly estimated and the Indian business magnate was found to fall short - not that the Reliance Industries owner will be losing any sleep over it.

You tend not to when your personal wealth dwarfs the GDP of many small countries... Earlier in the year, the multi-billionaire was listed by Forbes magazine in 14th place among the world's richest people with an estimated wealth of $20.1 billion, way behind Microsoft's Bill Gates and his mega-bucks wealth of $56 billion.

But a whirlwind rise in the benchmark Sensex index, which rocketed to 20,000 points, after gaining nearly 4000 points in six weeks, meant the 49-year-old's personal wealth shot up to $63.2 billion.

Indian celebrations were cut short when Reliance was quick to point out that Ambani was not quite so rich, with a net worth of 'just' $50 billion. "The figures are completely wrong," said Reliance spokesman Tushar Pania, explaining that Ambani does not have a direct share in Reliance Petroleum.

"They have done double calculations." Ambani's wealth was calculated on the strength of his holdings in Reliance Industries and group companies Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited.

During the year, he also overtook steel baron Lakshmi Mittal to become the richest Indian in the world.

Not rags to riches It's been a meteoric rise for Ambani, although his story could never be filed under the 'rags to riches' category.

Born in Mumbai in 1957, Ambani came from business stock with his father Dhirubhai Ambani growing from a small businessman to become one of the legendary figures of Indian industry.

After his Bachelors in chemical engineering at the University of Bombay, he completed his Masters in business administration at Stanford University.

He joined Reliance in 1981 and was the brains behind the company's backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals.

It was during that process of backward integration that Ambani's vision led to the creation of 51 new, world-class manufacturing facilities involving a gamut of diverse technologies that raised Reliance's manufacturing capacities manifold.

The world's largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar is his brainchild, while he was also in charge of his father's dream project Reliance Infocomm.

But after splitting with his younger brother Anil in 2005 - Infocomm went to the younger Ambani - he took control of Reliance Industries, a move which saw his personal wealth soar.

There seems no limit to what Ambani can achieve. Investing $5.5 billion on retail ventures including Reliance Fresh which has seen the opening of a chain of 60 food stores nationwide, while other mega plans include a $10 billion Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Working for his wealth Ambani, who is married with three children, has a collection of awards and honours that is almost as impressive as his bank balance.

He was ranked 42nd among the world's most respected business leaders and second among the four Indian ceos featured in a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and published in the Financial Times in 2004.

Ambani was also honoured with the World Communication Award for the most influential person in telecommunications in 2004 by Total Telecom and received the Asia Society Leadership Award by the Asia Society in Washington DC.

Ambani will be the first to agree that his upbringing was far from rough. However, those that know him are quick to lay the credit for Reliance's meteoric growth over the last 20 years firmly at his door. Wealth, it seems, does not ambush his work ethic.

"There are important lessons I have learnt during my upbringing and it is important to share these," he told Rediff news.

"We were like a joint family and I was the first child of the family of that generation. There were advantages in being the first child those days.

"My father navigated through life from Aden in Yemen to Bhuleshwar (a congested commercial precinct in Mumbai) to Usha Kiran (Mumbai's earliest skyscraper) at Altamount Road to Sea Wind (an exclusive tower which is the Ambani residence).

"I guess when you are left on your own you find your true potential. I remember my father never came to our school even once. Nevertheless, he was hugely interested in our all-round development for which he did some amazing things."

Although his father was a driven businessman much like his son, Ambani is as committed to his family as he is his business.

"Reliance was my father's life. Yet some of my most vivid memories are of spending time with him. However busy he may have been, whatever the pressure, Sunday was for his wife and kids. I try to do the same with my family.

"And it has to be non-academic. It is easy to be with your kids and say, 'Let's do homework together'. But we try to do things beyond doing lunches and dinners. I learnt that from my father.

"He was a big nature lover and during our school days, we went to different places every Sunday - we walked through the forest or had a bath in a stream. I have turned into a big nature fan as well. These childhood influences have shaped me into what I am today. The change in my life is that I can afford it more today."

Flying high It's not all he can afford. Newspapers reports - not denied by Reliance - were rife that he has bought his wife a birthday gift of a luxury jet with entertainment cabins and a sky bar.

The $60 million Airbus was given to wife Neeta on her 44th birthday and is custom-fitted with an office and a cabin with game consoles, music systems, satellite television and wireless communication.

Ambani is also building a $1 billion, 27-storey home in Mumbai, considered to be one of the world's most expensive houses.

Complete with a helipad, health club and six floors for car parking and 600 staff, the building has awed India's rich but, equally, it has also drawn criticism in a country where hundreds of millions live in crushing poverty.

Despite the critics, however, the Ambani name is still revered in India mainly due to the legacy of his father. But with a focus on investing in the Indian workforce as well as Reliance's future, Ambani may be on the verge of his very own public legacy.

On the subject of his pet SEZ, he is keen to see it work. "India is long on talent and we need to create as many jobs as possible in manufacturing and services. The country's landbank is about 750-800 million acres. Out of this, 500 million acres can be potentially farmed, but today only 300-350 million is arable and used for agriculture.

"We need to bring the remaining 150 million acres into productive use. More than 100 million households rely on this land base," he said.

"We will bring about two million professionals into the workforce annually over the next 20 years. We need to create jobs for them."

The Dubai connection Ambani also has his sights set on further afield. Reliance Industries will pump $24 billion in to petrochemical projects in the Gulf over the next decade according to Ambani, who was in Dubai in December to explore business ventures and meet His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

"India, China and the Gulf are the future of business," Ambani said, adding that Reliance will have a role to play in Dubai's transformation over the next five to seven years.

Want to spend $50 billion? Mukesh Ambani makes close to $254 every second for his flagship company Reliance Industries which would seem to be reflected in his annual pay cheque of around $7.7 million.

But what would life be like if he decided to cash in his entire fortune of an estimated $50 billion? Well, it would make for quite a shopping spree as $50 billion would get you: