Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani pronunciation (Gujarati: ધીરજલાલ હીરાચંદ અંબાણી ; 28 December 1932 – 6 July 2002) better known as Dhirubhai Ambani was an Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries in Mumbai with his cousin. Dhirubhai has been among the select few to be figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia. His life has often been referred to as a true "rags to riches" story. Ambani took his company public in 1977, and by 2007 the combined fortune of the family was $60 billion, making the Ambani's the second richest family in the world. Ambani died on July 6, 2002.
Dhirubhai started off by working with a firm in Yemen in the 1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. After making modest profits, he moved into textiles and opened his mill in Naroda industrial area of Ahmedabad. He founded Reliance Industries in 1966, and today, the company, with over 85,000 employees, provides almost 5% of the Central Government's total tax revenue.As of 2012, Reliance Industries was listed among top 100 firms in Fortune 500 list of world's biggest companies by revenues.
Following a heart attack in 1986, Dhirubhai handed over the Reliance empire to his sons Mukesh and Anil. Ambani died after two subsequent heart attacks on July 6th 2002 in Breach Candy Hospital. After his death, the group was split into Reliance Industries Limited, headed by Mukesh Ambani, and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), headed by Anil Ambani.
Read more about Dhirubhai Ambani: Majin Commercial Corporation, Reliance Textiles, Dhirubhai's Control Over Stock Exchange, Death, Popular in Media, Awards and Recognitions