NEW DELHI: For the fifth year in a row, Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has taken no salary from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), his oil-to-telecom-to-retail conglomerate, making dividends his primary source of income.
Ambani, 68, had capped his annual compensation at ₹15 crore from FY2008-09 to FY2019-20. Beginning in FY2020-21, he voluntarily waived his salary due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move he has continued through FY2024-25, until the company and its businesses fully regained their earning potential.
According to RIL’s latest annual report, Ambani received no salary, allowances, perquisites, or retiral benefits during FY2024-25.
Despite this, the world’s 18th richest individual, with a net worth just under USD 100 billion, continues to earn substantial dividend income. He directly holds 1.61 crore shares in Reliance, which earned him ₹8.85 crore in dividends, based on the ₹5.50 per share dividend declared for FY25. Additionally, promoter group firms under his control hold 664.5 crore shares (50.07% stake), generating a dividend income of ₹3,655 crore.
The remuneration of Ambani’s cousins and Executive Directors, Nikhil and Hital Meswani, marginally declined to ₹25 crore each in FY25, compared to ₹25.31 crore and ₹25.42 crore respectively in FY24. Their packages included a ₹17.28 crore commission, unchanged over the last three years.
Executive Director P M S Prasad saw his remuneration rise to ₹19.96 crore in FY25 from ₹17.93 crore in the previous year. His salary included performance-linked incentives for FY24, paid during the current fiscal.
Ambani’s children—Isha, Akash, and Anant—joined the Reliance board in October 2023 as non-executive directors with no fixed salary. For FY25, they each received ₹6 lakh as sitting fees and ₹2.27 lakh as commission. In comparison, they received ₹4 lakh in sitting fees and ₹97 lakh as commission in FY24.
Anant Ambani, the youngest, has since been appointed as an Executive Director and is set to earn between ₹10 crore and ₹20 crore in salary starting this fiscal year.
Other non-executive directors on the Reliance board include Raminder Singh Gujral, Shumeet Banerji, former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, former CVC K V Chowdary, veteran banker K V Kamath, and Yasir Othman H Al Rumayyan, representing the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. All independent directors received a commission of ₹2.25 crore and sitting fees, consistent with the previous year.
Mukesh Ambani has served on the Reliance board since 1977 and became chairman in 2002 following the death of his father and group founder, Dhirubhai Ambani. In 2023, he was reappointed as Chairman and Managing Director for another five-year term, lasting until April 2029. During this period, he has chosen not to draw any salary.
Since FY2020-21, Ambani has consistently declined all forms of remuneration—including allowances, perquisites, retiral benefits, commissions, and stock options—setting a precedent of moderation in executive compensation. Before opting for nil salary, his pay was capped at ₹15 crore annually for 11 consecutive years, from FY2008-09 through FY2019-20.
