The polluted and chaotic Bombay usually wakes up with a gray haze that sticks to the skyscrapers like dust to ceiling fans. In one of those buildings, far from the noise of the street markets, lives Anil Ambani (66 years old), a man who for years symbolized the promise and downfall of Indian family capitalism. A billionaire cornered by debts and now under scrutiny for appearing in Epstein's documents discussing business and women with the American sex offender.
During the 2000s, Anil was one of the most recognizable faces of money in Asia. Slim and suited, he emerged as the modern and elegant figure of the powerful Ambani dynasty. While his influential older brother, Mukesh Ambani, cultivated the image of a reserved and obsessive tycoon, Anil projected more sympathy and glamour. Both had grown up in the shadow of the patriarch, Dhirubhai Ambani, who built the Reliance Industries empire, India's largest private conglomerate, now operating globally in key sectors including energy, retail, and telecommunications.
When Dhirubhai died in 2002, he left a gigantic fortune and no clear will. What followed was one of the most intense family wars ever seen in the South Asian giant. The brothers stopped speaking to each other, and conglomerate executives had to take sides while the markets watched every move closely. The mother, Kokilaben Ambani, ended up mediating in a distribution that divided the empire in half. Mukesh kept the industrial heart: oil, petrochemicals, and energy. Anil received telecommunications, entertainment, infrastructure, and finance.
The younger brother's company, Reliance Communications, grew so rapidly, alongside the country's mobile phone explosion, that Anil was among the world's richest men in 2008. Additionally, his private life frequently appeared in the gossip pages. In 1991, he married Tina Munim, a famous Bollywood actress who quit the film industry after the wedding. They have two sons, Jai Anmol and Jai Anshul, who work in their father's businesses management. For years, the couple was one of the most visible in Bombay's high society.
In the business world, Anil continued to expand his companies with the help of large loans. But success came to a sudden halt in 2016 because of his own brother. Mukesh, who had become Asia's richest man, launched Reliance Jio, a telecommunications company that revolutionized the market with cheap mobile data. In no time, Anil's group was crushed by competition and debt. His companies began to declare bankruptcy.
Last February, Indian investigators seized a luxury condominium building valued at $410 million in the exclusive Pali Hill neighborhood of Bombay, owned by Anil, as part of an increasingly broad investigation into the alleged bank fraud committed by the magnate. The agency alleged that he had defaulted on loans worth over 400 billion rupees (around 4 billion euros) granted by Indian and foreign banks.
But the news about Anil in recent weeks, more than for his financial problems, has been about his connections with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. They met several times to discuss business, politics, and women. The Indian magnate's name appears in 87 results in a search of Epstein's files published by the US Department of Justice. "Who do you recommend?" Anil wrote. "A tall, blonde Swedish woman, to make the visit more enjoyable," Epstein replied. "Organize it," the Indian replied.
This correspondence, along with many others between Epstein and Anil that took place until 2019, also shows that both men met for dinner and business talks at the convicted sex offender's luxurious home. At one point, Epstein warned Anil about the dangers to his reputation. Nevertheless, the American insisted: "There are many people from the financial world in my house. You would enjoy it. If my presence on Google worries you, a large group of ministers neutralizes it."
Today, while Mukesh, the esteemed older brother of the Ambani dynasty, lives in Antilia - the world's most expensive residential tower - and leads one of the most powerful conglomerates on the planet, Anil represents the other side of the heir who rose to the top and then began to plummet.