How Ambanis Became So Rich?

Dhirubhai Ambani was one of India’s greatest businessmen. His company, Reliance Industries, today earns approximately ₹2 crore every minute. But would you believe that Dhirubhai’s journey began as an ordinary clerk? His job involved standing in the sun for hours, filling petrol into vehicles. This is the story of India’s most ambitious man, Dhirubhai Ambani.

The story begins in 1932. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani was born in the village of Chorwad in Gujarat. His father was a school teacher. He was respected. But his salary was not sufficient to run a large family. A family of seven somehow lived in a two-room house. But this poverty could not break Dhirubhai’s spirit.

From childhood itself, he had a different confidence and a different hunger. People felt that this boy would definitely do something big. At the age of 12, he came to Junagadh for his studies. Because of his poor background, he was admitted as a free student at Bahadur Kanji High School. In 1940, India was still under British rule.

Therefore, in 1946, at just 14 years of age, Dhirubhai, along with his friend Krishnakant Vakharia, formed a student organisation called Junagadh Vidyarthi Sangh. He actively participated in the independence movement. In 1949, he passed the matriculation examination. But what next? There was no money, no family business, and no connections. At this point, an old tradition of his community showed him a path.

For decades, young Gujarati boys had been travelling to Arabian countries. They would work for 8 to 10 years, save money, and then return to start their own businesses. So, at the age of 16, Dhirubhai boarded a steamer and set out for Aden, 2,400 kilometres away from home. In Aden, he appeared for a job interview at A. Besse & Company.