Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and one of Asia’s wealthiest businessmen, was visibly emotional as Jio Platforms, the telecom and digital services company led by his eldest son Akash Ambani, made its stock market debut.
Jio Platforms shares opened 21 percent higher, making it India’s second-largest company by market capitalisation, behind its parent, Reliance Industries. The listing marked a major milestone in the 35-year-old Akash’s rise within the family-run conglomerate and highlighted the next stage of its succession planning.
Akash, who serves as managing director of Jio Platforms, addressed his father at the listing ceremony, saying he and his siblings had taken over the responsibility entrusted to them and would spend their lives proving worthy of it. Mukesh, who did not speak at the event, was seen wiping away tears.
Speech by Shri Anant Ambani, Director, Jio Platforms, at the listing ceremony of JPL IPO https://t.co/KiShhOhJnV
— Reliance Industries Limited (@RIL_Updates) October 28, 2026
The younger Ambani was appointed chairman of Jio’s telecom business in 2022, a move widely viewed as part of the billionaire’s plans to prepare the next generation to lead the group.
Akash also manages relationships with some of Jio’s most prominent investors, including Meta. The company owns nearly 10 percent of Jio, having invested alongside Google and other global investors in 2020, when the company raised 1.52 trillion rupees, worth $20.5 billion at the time.
While Mukesh maintains close ties with several sovereign wealth funds, Akash has taken on a more prominent role with technology investors in Silicon Valley. Reliance and Meta did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Building the Reliance brand
Akash holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brown University in the United States. A sports enthusiast, he is also involved in managing an Indian Premier League cricket franchise. He married in 2019 and has two children.
The listing follows strong demand for Reliance’s first initial public offering in 20 years. Last week, investor bids surpassed the level recorded for the 2008 Reliance Power offering, which belonged to the business group led by Mukesh’s younger brother, Anil Ambani.
The response from individual investors echoes the strategy of Akash’s grandfather, Dhirubhai Ambani, who died in 2002. During the 1980s, Dhirubhai held large shareholder gatherings in Mumbai’s open grounds, helping establish Reliance’s image as a company through which ordinary investors could build long-term wealth.
Reliance’s Mumbai-listed shares have risen 330-fold since 1990, giving the conglomerate a market capitalisation of more than $170 billion. At Wednesday’s ceremony, a garlanded portrait of Dhirubhai stood beside the family as they rang the opening bell.
Jio beyond telecoms
Launched in 2016, Jio disrupted India’s telecommunications market by offering free voice calls and data services. It now has more than 500 million users, making it one of the world’s largest telecom operators by subscribers in a single country, behind China Mobile.
Jio Platforms says Akash is guiding its long-term strategy to expand connectivity and digital services, moving from 4G and 5G towards artificial intelligence. The company provides apps, digital services and home devices, although telecommunications still accounts for nearly 90 percent of its $15.45 billion in revenue and around 94 percent of its profit.
The company is seeking to establish itself as a broader technology platform rather than simply a telecom operator. Its IPO prospectus describes it as a technology platform, while Akash has also stressed that Jio is a digital services company built on connectivity.
Earlier this month, he outlined plans to introduce artificial intelligence-powered call summaries and transcription in 12 Indian languages. He said the company’s understanding of its customers gives it an advantage in delivering such services.
The market debut therefore represents not only a significant step for Akash’s leadership but also an opportunity for Jio to demonstrate that its future extends beyond mobile connectivity into a wider range of digital and AI-powered services.
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