Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the new company
The Reliance-Disney India merger has attracted Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance boss Mukesh Ambani. She is back into mainstream business as the new company’s chairperson where her experience in arts and sports, and ties with Bollywood could come in handy. Reliance and Disney announced on Wednesday they would create a $8.5 billion TV and streaming juggernaut in India. This move will provide the stage for fierce rivalry with likes of Netflix, Japan’s Sony, and Amazon’s Prime Video. Nita Ambani’s appointment as the chairperson comes months after she quit the parent entity“to devote her energies and time to guide” the group’s philanthropy venture. Nita Ambani’s decision to take up the role is a strong signal “that this (media) business is close to the family’s heart,” said a source familiar with Disney-Reliance deal talks.
Disney and Reliance have separately spent billions on TV and streaming rights for key cricket tournaments over coming years. Nita Ambani owns the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s richest cricket league. So, cricket is an equally important area of interest for her.
“She has the ability to get things done. The way she treats people, gets everyone motivated. She can delegate and take accountability,” said a senior person in the know.
Nita Ambani grew up in a Mumbai suburb and started training in traditional Bharatnatyam dance at the age of six. She married Mukesh Ambani in 1985 whileworking as a school teacher. The couple has three children who are heirs to the Reliance business conglomerate.
Sports and educations are key areas of interest for Nita Ambani
“I believe as much in the magical powers of sports and education,” she said in a speech in 2018, adding she wanted to make “the right to play, right to sports, a reality to all.”
Nita Ambani is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and an honorary trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, though most of her work at Reliance over the years has focussed on the group’s philanthropic initiatives.
Bengali