From the Ambanis to Madonna – the 7 most epic sibling rivalries of all time

Sep 11 , 2019

Mukesh Ambani (left), chief of India's Reliance Industries, and Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Communications, have been at the centre of a high-profile feud in India. Photo: Reuters

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From Cleopatra to the Indian business tycoons Mukesh and Anil Ambani, these feuds show how some siblings simply have it in for one another

Since the days of Cain and Abel, sibling rivalries have dotted history in many shapes and forms.

Some siblings sue each other over money or defamation, while others live out their days in a frigid silent treatment. Some sibling rivalries are purely playful, competitive one-upmanship.

These sibling groups not only reveal that it’s impossible to expect brothers and sisters to get along all the time, they also show how some siblings simply have it in for one another.

Here are seven of the most epic sibling rivalries of all time.

Indian business tycoons Mukesh and Anil Ambani waged a war against each other in and out of court

Mukesh (left) and Anil Ambani. Photo: Reuters

When Reliance Industries founder Dhirubhai Ambani died in 2002 without a will, his elder son, Mukesh, took over the company as chairman while his younger son, Anil, was made vice-chairman.

Mukesh then reportedly tried to push Anil off the board, and tension between the siblings turned into an ugly legal battle, resulting in a demerger of the company led by the brothers’ mother in 2005. For the next five years the brothers continued to wage war against one another, both in and out of court, until their mother intervened again, this time issuing a non-compete agreement between the two in 2010.

Though the brothers announced soon after that they were no longer feuding, new deals in the telecommunications industry could become a further source of competition for the Ambanis.

Sister singers LaVerne, Patty and Maxene Andrews had a decades-long feud