Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, the Oil Tycoon with a simple ambition: "Be the Richest Man Alive on Earth".
He was known previously for Reliance Industries and now, for his most cherished venture:
Looking to understand the narrative about Jio Fundraise?
To Ambani, being remembered is quite important. Money simply doesn't matter to him in the same way.
In that way, he is closer to Bezos than anyone else alive: Willing to invest all his
The cash left over after a company pays for its operating expenses and capital expenditures
References:
Brain Dump
The Role of Civil War which led to ZIRP
Jio Things
Mukesh angle
- Telecom has been close to Mukesh and Manoj Modi for more than a decade
- Naked Populism - Jio's Free Pricing, Kar Lo Duniya Mutthi Mai
- First plans of Jio leaked in 2015
- "It has to work perfectly from Day 1" - paraphrasing Mukesh Ambani
- "Country is on a journey from $2K to $5K PCI" - Mukesh Ambani
Cronyism?
- Acquiring Infotel Broadband which bid for $2B, a proxy, when it had itself no existence or value
- Change in TRAI rules which allowed Jio to make and receive voice calls on a network originally designed for data. Source 39 in the James Crabtree book.
- "We de-merged all of that" - Mukesh Ambani when NYT spoke of "network of lobbyists and spies in New Delhi". Anil Ambani would later unsuccessfully sue Mukesh for defamation on the basis of this quote.
Oil Tycoon
- Free cash flow from Oil Refining feeds to Telecom
- Jamnagar Refinery - the world's largest refinery by X
- Ignored advisors forcing him to become Exxon or Shell
Family History
- How Kokilaben and Anil's focus on existing value over future value helped Mukesh, he got energy and oil. While Anil got Telecom.
Adani
- VISC Coal mines in Australia and Indonesia, his own ports and railways to supply Adani Power/Electricity
- Defended Modi publicly in 2002, against riot criticism
- Criticized by media during 2014, when Adani's private jets were used by Modi for his political campaigns
- Mundra Port is India's largest port with 100M MT of goods
- Adani is India's largest port owner, and largest private Electricity producer
Further Reading: Guha Thakurta - Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis
Bollygarchs Hindu rate of growth lol
How we move value
Roman aqueducts and stoned roads led to the Roman empire and coinage built economy
This Army, quite literally, borrowed from the future and paid it's debts – until it could not, losing to superior training, and better fighting tactics
Shipping, Rails, Roads, Pipes, Wires, Wireless
Grains, Spices, Armies, Oil, Currency, Favours
CharactersWe explore our themes with the lens of two characters: Mukesh Ambani Dhirubhai Ambani and Rockefeller.
The other characters include:
Maharajas
- Dhirubhai Ambani, The Polyester Prince - Founder of Reliance Industries Limited
- Aditya Birla
- Rahul Bajaj
- Ratan Tata
Men Who Built America
- Rockefeller - Standard Oil
- Carnegie - US Steel
- Vanderbilt - Rail Magnate, died 1877, just months before the Great Railroad Strike
- Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse - General Electric
- JP Morgan - US Steel, General Electric - 1901
Industrialists
DhirubhaiMost men are forgotten within days of their death. Dhirubhai is not among them. Almost two decades after his death, the founder of Reliance Industries Limited, lives on as a force to reckon with.
He is succeeded by his son Mukesh Ambani Ambani, the more successful of the Ambani brothers.
indexFirst time here? Begin at Narrative
This web book originated from this single tweet by @MohapatraHemant
We'll explore a quick History of the Jio Platforms, Reliance Industries and Mukesh Ambani. I'll contrast this with the Men Who Built America and try to make informed guesses about the same.
- READ THIS FIRST: How to make the most of this guide
This work borrows heavily from the sources mentioned in the References. My thinking is also influenced by the limited exposure to Modern History, Sociology and Business History at large.
I am fundamentally, a maker, an engineer. I bring the biases of that thought process into this writing and editing. I break information into lego pieces. I do not aim for being
MECE.Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive
For widely read folk: https://www.caseinterview.com/mece
/rantIn practice, I've seen people conflate mutually exclusive with independent levers in a business or system.
That is fine I guess, as long as you don't go around thinking that savings on employee perks are your revenue. Don't be an idiot.
/endRantFrom Concepts popular in Management Consulting and structured business thinking
I also attempt to separate fact from opinion.
Yet, I'm but human. My selection of facts might be warped by the innate human need to build a Narrative
- Narrative
At the heart of very synthesis, lies a narrative. This is neither complete, nor true.
Although I'm violating the tradition of Epistemic humility, I encourage you to check the Commonplace first for caveats first.
Here are the questions we want to ask:
Standard Oil:Rockefeller :: Jio:Ambani
- What was Standard Oil and who was Rockefeller?
- What helped Standard Oil become a virtual monopoly?
- What makes Rockefeller a useful metaphor for Mukesh Ambani's goals? The similarities, differences and place in time.
- What are the possible ambitions behind Jio Platforms?
- What makes Jio Platforms a force to reckon with?
We also touch
2020 Jio Fundraise, but that is less interesting to me in the larger scheme of things.Who has Jio raised the money from?
All info here is best effort. Have a more to add? Tweet to me @NirantK:
Base Stake Amount Other Notes Facebook US KKR US Mubadala Abu Dhabi 1.85% $1.2 B Silver Lake US 2.08% $1.35 B Gartner, Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Dell, and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing General Atlantic US TPG US 0.93% $600 M Vista Equity US ADIA Abu Dhabi 1.16% $750M India's Gilded Age
This is a topic which I may or may not explore - depending on my own time and curiosity trade offs.
If you have questions though, tweet to me @NirantK
- Frameworks: Vertically Integrated Supply Chain
- People
We explore our themes with the lens of two characters: Mukesh Ambani Dhirubhai Ambani and Rockefeller.
The other characters include:
Maharajas
- Dhirubhai Ambani, The Polyester Prince - Founder of Reliance Industries Limited
- Aditya Birla
- Rahul Bajaj
- Ratan Tata
Men Who Built America
- Rockefeller - Standard Oil
- Carnegie - US Steel
- Vanderbilt - Rail Magnate, died 1877, just months before the Great Railroad Strike
- Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse - General Electric
- JP Morgan - US Steel, General Electric - 1901
Industrialists
Sorted by Top
Books
- The Billionaire Raj by James Crabtree
- Saving Capitalism from Capitalists by Raghuram Rajan
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
At the heart of very synthesis, lies a narrative. This is neither complete, nor true.
Although I'm violating the tradition of Epistemic humility, I encourage you to check the Commonplace first for caveats first.
Here are the questions we want to ask:
Standard Oil:Rockefeller :: Jio:Ambani
- What was Standard Oil and who was Rockefeller?
- What helped Standard Oil become a virtual monopoly?
- What makes Rockefeller a useful metaphor for Mukesh Ambani's goals? The similarities, differences and place in time.
- What are the possible ambitions behind Jio Platforms?
- What makes Jio Platforms a force to reckon with?
We also touch
Who has Jio raised the money from?
All info here is best effort. Have a more to add? Tweet to me @NirantK:
| Base | Stake | Amount | Other Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | ||||
| KKR | US | |||
| Mubadala | Abu Dhabi | 1.85% | $1.2 B | |
| Silver Lake | US | 2.08% | $1.35 B | Gartner, Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Dell, and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing |
| General Atlantic | US | |||
| TPG | US | 0.93% | $600 M | |
| Vista Equity | US | |||
| ADIA | Abu Dhabi | 1.16% | $750M |
India's Gilded Age
This is a topic which I may or may not explore - depending on my own time and curiosity trade offs.
If you have questions though, tweet to me @NirantK