In a move heralding succession, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, introduced his daughter Isha as the leader of Reliance group's retail business, at the Reliance annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday, 29 August.
Further, Ambani identified his youngest son, Anant, as the leader for new energy business, while speaking about his succession plan for Reliance.
Reliance has three broad businesses – oil refining and petrochemicals, retail, and digital services that include telecom.
In June, Ambani had named his son Akash as the chairman of the group's telecom arm, Reliance Jio.
"Our next-gen leaders are confidently taking over the reins across businesses. Akash and Isha have assumed leadership roles in Jio and Retail respectively. Anant has also joined our New Energy business with great zeal," Mukesh Ambani said at the meet.
'JioMart-WhatsApp Partnership Will Aid Growth': Isha
The 30-year-old businesswoman gave a presentation on placing online grocery orders using WhatsApp at the Reliance Industries Ltd's 45th annual shareholders meeting.
"The JioMart and WhatsApp partnership will aid growth. JioMart-WhatsApp users can use WhatsApp pay, cash on delivery, and other payment methods," Isha Ambani said at the meet.
She also announced that Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) will launch its FMCG business this year.
The objective of this business will be to develop and deliver products and solve every Indian's daily needs, with high quality products at affordable pricing, she said.
Besides this, Reliance Retail will also start marketing goods produced by Indian artisans.
Reliance Foundation has touched the lives of over 63 million people, across 60,000 villages and urban locations, she noted. "We are working on a 10-year blueprint that will make our foundation bigger and more impactful. I will share the plans with you in the coming year," Isha Ambani stated.
Akash and Isha have been on the boards of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd since October 2014.
Isha has completed her graduation in Psychology and South Asian Studies from Yale University, and then her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She had joined Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail in 2014. Before that, she worked as a business analyst at McKinsey in New York.
Alongside Akash, Isha has been part of the teams that handled the negotiations at the time of Meta's investment in Reliance. Isha had also launched the fashion website Ajio, which falls under Reliance Retail, at the 2016 Lakmé Fashion Week.
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