Fifteen years ago, in October 2007, when he first became the richest person in the world, I met Mukesh Ambani at his Reliance office in Mumbai’s Maker Chambers at Nariman Point. A spectacular bull run in the stock market had placed him at the top of the global rich list. Surpassing American software czar Bill Gates, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, and the American investor and philanthropist Warren Buffet. His net worth was put in the range of Rs. 2,49,108 crore.
I was an editor at the Times Group. I knew Ambani. He always stopped to politely say hello when I bumped into him in public. His wife, Nita Ambani, I knew even better. She invited me for tea to their old residence at Sea Wind in Cuffe Parade on several occasions. I thought, since congratulations were in order, I ought to pay Ambani a courtesy visit. It was easily and speedily fixed up. And one evening there I was. Sipping a cup of milky cardamom tea exclusively in his presence.
He was in his trademark black trousers and white bush shirt. Both, no doubt from Vimal. Asking me curiously about my work. Expressing a nascent interest in the media that he was soon to control in India. Discussing the virtues of the Gujarati masala tea that I was then drinking. I came away after we made small talk. But the thing that struck me most was that here was the richest man in the world. And he had moved around with no visible security.
Since then he went beyond polyester, oil refineries, petroleum products, and related industries to build schools and hospitals, a sprawling corporate township on the outskirts of Mumbai, the city’s swankiest mall, one of the world’s most prestigious and costliest residences, he’s involved in the Metro and Sealink, in cricket, football and cinema, in smartphones and internet services, the media and God knows what else. And along with his fortune, rose his fame.
But in the process, Ambani’s has become a marked man. There are threats to his life now. And to those of his family. Threats to blow up his residence Antilla on Altamont Road and his state-of-the-art Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre at Girgaon. And Ambani has been provided a Z+ security cover that includes bulletproof cars and a 24-hour guard of 50 armed CRPF commandos. He’s lost his privacy. Fame and fortune come with a price. This is it. And it’s sad.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have been featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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