Ambani & Sons by Hamish McDonald

There is an old saying that goes, 'You cannot be fooled unless you allow yourself to be'. The wisdom in this saying is a corollary to Darwin's famous postulate of 'Survival of the fittest'. However, it is also precisely the same wisdom that justifies every action of Dhirubhai Ambani. For anyone who has read Hamish McDonald's Polyester Prince, this book has limited surprises.

The book can be divided into four distinct parts.

The first part deals with the journey of an ambitious young man determined to make it big on a large stage. It talks loud about the young Dhirubhai who impressed everyone around him with his brilliance, and that helped him seek better life opportunities in the port of Aden off Yemen coast in A. Besse & Co. company. As someone who had realised early in life that one should never depend on someone for very long, Dhirubhai was always on the lookout for new opportunities.

The finest example of his genius in discovering untapped opportunities is the fact that as a junior clerk in Aden he found that the silver content in the Rial (Yemen's currency) coin is more than its exchange value in pounds. However the main reasons for his successful entrepreneurial ventures throughout his life lies in his persistence and ability to execute these ideas converting them into money. Dhirubhai made a few lakhs of rupees by collecting these Rials, melting them and selling the silver ingots at their market price, something that not all junior clerks would dare to do!

The second part of the book deals with Dhirubhai's resolve to set up his company, and his maverick ideas in running the business. A friend notes that Dhirubhai does not go against the law. He makes sure that the law is modified to permit something so that his activity does not classify to be going against the law! Also, a friend recalls hs is words 'Everything that I have done is kept under the ground and a first class fountain has been built over it. No one will find out what I have done'. This is truly aligned to Dhirubhai's ideal that ends justify the means. His active involvement of shareholders in the process of building his vast business empire and unique ability to have right friends in the right places especially in the changing governments deserve special mention in this part of the book, and truly serve as a compulsory lesson for aspirant entrepreneurs and managers.

The third part of this book, although very much mixed with the second part, is my favourite. It is the one that deals with the past of many of the people who are today holders of iconic positions in our country. This is the part that tells us how Reliance and its growth under Dhirubhai is an inseparable element in understanding the present India and its growth in the last three decades. It brings out the past of several of today's national leaders like Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Murli Deora, Arun Jaitley, Sharad Pawar, Arun Shourie, Ram Jethmalani and some yester-year leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P.Singh, Narasimha Rao and Pramod Mahajan, and their active involvement in the successes and failure of Dhirubhai's business empire. Also important is the role of media baron Ramnath Goenka, his investigative journalist Gurumurthy, Nusli Wadia, Amitabh Bachchan and recently scamster Harshad Mehta. The most notable thing here is the matrix that relates these 'leaders' to the corporate house of Reliance and the mastermind named Dhirubhai Ambani.

The last part of the book, which has potential drama to be dubbed into a Bollywood flick is the one that deals with the last days of Dhirubhai and the feud between his sons Mukesh and Anil after his death. The book clearly indicates Mukesh to be the true Dhirubhai successor, while branding Anil as someone who used emotions to gain his base and has a lot to learn about conducting business successfuly beyond ambitious hopes and false promises.

All in all, the book 'Ambani & Sons' by Hamish McDonald is a definite must-read for anyone who aspires to conduct business in India as it tells the tale of how a young man with no business background managed to build one of the world's biggest corporate houses in a land stricken with neo-socialist policies that undervalues the role of equity and is easily maneuverable by money and power. It also follows the growth of Indian economy amidst license raj, import-export controls and regulations leading to liberalisation in early 1990s. It also talks about the origin and growth of the equity cult and popularity of public stock offerings that is directly attributed to Dhirubhai Ambani. Also it tells us the story of India as a developing nation through the 1980s and 1990s- the dark and bright patches in it, and most importantly about two of the world's richest people today!

Cheers!
Shyam



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