India's Reliance appoints Ambani children to board in succession plan

• Isha, Akash and Anant Ambani become board directors
• Nita Ambani steps down from board to focus on charity
• Seeks to avoid turmoil that followed father's death

India's Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS on Monday appointed the three children of Chairman Mukesh Ambani as board directors at the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate, as the billionaire prepares to eventually hand over the reins.

Ambani, Asia's richest person, has previously said his children Isha, Akash and Anant would have significant roles in the business and that Reliance was "in the process of effecting a momentous leadership transition".

With a market value of over $200 billion, Ambani's business empire spans telecoms, retail, oil and gas and new energy.

With Mukesh Ambani in his late 60s, "the time is probably right ... If not now, when?," said Arun Dasmahapatra, a partner at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles' Mumbai office.

"This is also an attempt by Mukesh Ambani to ensure the next generation of Ambani siblings stay close to one another and do not have any discord."

Mukesh's father Dhirubhai Ambani, a well-known industrialist, died intestate, sparking a long-running and public feud for control of assets between Mukesh and his younger brother Anil.

Ambani has positioned experienced executives and long-time friends and family to steer his children through the transition, and they have taken larger roles at annual general meetings and led some company announcements.

Reliance also said Ambani's wife Nita had stepped down from the board to focus more on strengthening Reliance's charity arm.

Akash Ambani, who attended Brown University, was part of a team that brokered a $5.7 billion investment in 2020 by Meta Platforms META.O in Jio Platforms, a Reliance unit. He is already the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the telecom arm of Reliance.

Akash's twin sister Isha is driving the expansion of Reliance Retail into new categories and geographies, and is already a director on the boards of the retail unit, Reliance Retail Ventures, which houses the conglomerate's bets in India's brick-and-mortar and e-commerce industries.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the firm, Mukesh Ambani said the retail unit had doubled its valuation to $100 billion after a recent $1 billion investment from Qatar Investment Authority for a 1% stake.

The youngest of the siblings, Anant, is a director at Reliance's new energy business, retail unit as well as Jio platforms and its energy, and oil and chemical units.

Reliance shares closed down 1% on Monday and were among the top losers in the benchmark Nifty 50 index.