Mukesh Ambani's father Dhirubhai Ambani came to India with Rs 500, started Reliance with this product, not oil or phone

In 1958, a young man returned to India with just Rs 500 in his pocket. Little did anyone know that this meagre sum would become the seed money for what would grow into the largest conglomerate in the country—Reliance Industries Limited. But what did this visionary, Dhirubhai Ambani, do with his 500 rupees? The answer might surprise you.

Dhirubhai Ambani was born on December 28, 1932, in the small village of Chorwad in Gujarat’s Junagadh district. Financial difficulties forced him to leave his high school studies and take up a modest business—selling pakodas. This was just the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.

Seeking better prospects, Dhirubhai moved to Aden, Yemen, where he worked as a gas station attendant for A. Besse & Co., earning Rs 300 per month. After eight years of hard work, he returned to India in 1958 with Rs 500. With this small amount, he partnered with his relative Champaklal Damani to start a textile trading company named ‘Margin.’

In 1960, Dhirubhai took a bold step and founded Reliance, initially focusing on the textile industry. Reliance began as a small cloth factory in Mumbai, but under Dhirubhai's astute leadership, it quickly became the market leader.

In 1977-78, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) went public with an IPO priced at Rs 1,000. Those who invested in this IPO have witnessed a meteoric rise in value, with the investment growing to Rs 7 lakh 78 thousand crore by the 38th Annual General Meeting.

Today, Reliance Industries stands as India’s largest company with a market capitalization of Rs 2051795 crore. It dominates sectors like hydrocarbon exploration, petroleum refining, petrochemicals, retail, and telecommunications. Dhirubhai Ambani's legacy, passed on to his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, continues to shape India's economic landscape, even after his death in 2002.