ADVERTISEMENT

Mukesh Ambani’s Salary Is Not The Number To Focus On

Mukesh Ambani has not taken a salary hike in 10 years. But his income from RIL has almost doubled in that period.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries. (Photographer: Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg News)
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries. (Photographer: Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg News)

India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani hasn’t taken a salary hike in a decade, but his income from Reliance Industries Ltd. has almost doubled in the same period.

In financial year 2017-18, Ambani’s annual salary from Reliance, which comprises salary, perquisites, commission and retiral benefits, remains capped at Rs 15 crore for the tenth consecutive year. But the company’s chairman and managing director, who is also the single-largest shareholder, has earned Rs 14,553 crore, just from dividend declared by the company in the same period.

Opinion
Mukesh Ambani Keeps Salary Capped At Rs 15 Crore For 10th Year In A Row

Since 2008, Reliance has paid out Rs 31,616 crore in dividend. Ambani (and his family) being the promoter and majority shareholder has received a cumulative Rs 14,553 crore in dividend through his stake in the company. From Rs 927 crore in 2008, his dividend income doubled to Rs 1,804 in 2018. His cumulative salary over the same period is Rs 150 crore, or 1 percent of his dividend income.

At the end of March 2018, Ambani held his 47.4 percent stake in Reliance through 47 entities, according to data available on BSE Ltd.

Ambani is currently the third richest person in Asia according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Tencent Holding’s Ma Huateng, with a net worth of $40 billion.

Opinion
Is Mukesh Ambani Hinting At Taking His Consumer Businesses Public?