India’s Reliance boss Mukesh Ambani to set up family office in Singapore
- The billionaire, who has picked a manager to hire staff for the new entity, wants it to be running within a year
- Ambani is the latest in a series of ultra-rich people, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, to pick the city state for their family offices
The Mumbai-based billionaire has picked a manager to hire staff for the new entity and get it running, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The Ambanis have also chosen real estate, one of the people said.
A spokesman for Reliance, who also represents Ambani, wasn’t available for comment.
For Asia’s super-rich, Singapore family offices keep the cash churning
The city state has become an attractive hub for family offices thanks to its low taxes and relative security. The Monetary Authority of Singapore estimates about 700 were in place by the end of 2021, up from 400 a year earlier.
While announcing the appointment of Aramco’s chairman on the board of Reliance in 2021, the billionaire told his shareholders that this marked “the beginning of internationalisation” of his conglomerate, without elaborating. “You will hear more about our international plans in the times to come,” he had said at the time.
Reliance has been pivoting from its legacy oil refining and petrochemicals business toward e-commerce, green energy and the expansion of its retail footprint across India.
In 2020, its technology venture Jio Platforms Ltd. lured more than US$25 billion from marquee Silicon Valley investors including Meta Platforms Inc. and Google. It has also unveiled ambitious plans to take on Amazon.com in the country, including in streaming.