What happened to Anil Ambani, who was once richer than his brother India's richest Mukesh Ambani
By 2008, Anil Ambani had overtaken his brother Mukesh Ambani in terms of wealth and was positioned as the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $42 billion
In the early 2000s, Anil Ambani was seen as a beacon of success and potential in the corporate world, particularly after the division of the Reliance conglomerate – a giant in the Indian industry founded by Dhirubhai Ambani.
Following the split, which was highly publicised due to the family's prominence, Anil and his brother Mukesh went their separate ways, each inheriting different segments of the business.
Anil Ambani took charge of the newer, forward-looking ventures, while Mukesh Ambani retained the traditional core businesses.
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By 2008, Anil Ambani had astonishingly surpassed Mukesh in wealth, becoming the world's sixth wealthiest individual with a net worth of $42 billion.
However, the ensuing 17 years would see their fortunes diverge significantly.
Mukesh Ambani's net worth exploded to approximately $117.3 billion, propelled by his ventures into retail and digital markets, making him Asia's wealthiest person.
Anil Ambani, in contrast, faced a dramatic decline, with his financial situation worsening to the point where he declared his net worth had effectively diminished to zero.
The initial blow to Anil Ambani's empire came with a failed merger attempt with MTN, a South African telecom giant.
This deal was intended to alleviate the debt burden on Anil's Reliance Communications, which at the time was a leader in India's mobile service market.
The fallout from this failed merger was the first of several setbacks.
Anil Ambani's ventures then became embroiled in the 2G scandal in 2011, a corruption case in India that implicated various executives and raised questions about Ambani's business practices.
His involvement in 2G spectrum case primarily centred around allegations related to his company's (Reliance Communications) purported connections with Swan Telecom, one of the firms accused of benefiting from the irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation.
It was alleged that Swan Telecom, which applied for 2G licenses, was acting as a front for Reliance Communications, thereby violating norms that prevented existing telecom operators from owning more than 10% of another telecom company in the same service area.
The scandal took a toll on his companies' share prices and his wealth.
Faced with mounting debts, Anil Ambani sought relief through a $1.2 billion loan backed by a personal guarantee from Chinese banks, which ultimately failed to turn his fortunes around.
The list of creditors awaiting repayment grew longer, putting further strain on his financial resources.
Ambani further faced the biggest challenge in the market with the entry of Mukesh Ambani in the telecom sector in 2016.
Jio's fortunes soared while Ambani's Reliance Communications' saw its market share plunge to just 2 per cent from where it stood 3 years ago.
Batting on multiple fronts, he was also forced to sell assets of Reliance Power.
Multiple failed attempts to emerge from the debt crises meant that Anil Ambani was left without the firepower to challenge rivals.
