Jio Platforms Appoints Akash Ambani As MD Ahead Of IPO
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Startup Spotlight India
- May 14, 2026
Jio Platforms, the digital subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has appointed Akash Ambani as its Managing Director for a five-year term starting April 9, 2026, as the company prepares for its highly anticipated IPO.
According to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), the appointment was unanimously approved during a board meeting held on April 9. The development was first reported by Mint.
The board resolution stated that Akash M. Ambani had been appointed as Managing Director of the company for a period of five years effective April 9, 2026.
Akash Ambani, the eldest son of Mukesh Ambani, has played a key role in the group’s telecom and digital businesses for over a decade. After completing his economics degree at Brown University, he joined Reliance Jio Infocomm as a non-executive director in 2014 and later became chairman of the telecom arm in June 2022.
Currently, Mukesh Ambani serves as chairman of Jio Platforms, while Akash, Isha Ambani, and Anant Ambani are members of the company’s board. Kiran Thomas continues to lead the company as CEO.
The leadership update comes as Jio Platforms is reportedly revisiting the structure of its upcoming public offering. While the IPO was initially expected to be largely an offer-for-sale (OFS), recent reports suggest the company is now considering a fresh issue component amid differing opinions among shareholders regarding valuation and pricing.
According to reports, some investors are pushing for a higher valuation at the time of listing, while Reliance Industries is taking a more cautious approach to avoid overly aggressive pricing that could impact post-listing performance. The company has also reportedly held discussions with global technology firms, sovereign wealth funds, and private equity investors to finalise the IPO structure.
Jio Platforms’ IPO plans regained momentum after the finance ministry earlier this year relaxed public shareholding norms for large public offerings. Previous reports suggested that the company was eyeing a $4 billion IPO, or roughly ₹36,100 crore, with bankers valuing the business between $200 billion and $240 billion. However, the final structure and pricing are yet to be announced.
Since launching telecom operations in 2016, Jio has rapidly emerged as one of India’s largest telecom and digital ecosystem players. Its aggressive pricing strategy and free voice and data offerings in the early years significantly disrupted the telecom industry and accelerated internet adoption across the country.
Over the years, Jio Platforms has diversified beyond telecom into cloud computing, AI, enterprise solutions, and digital applications. In 2023, Reliance Industries partnered with Nvidia to build AI infrastructure and language models tailored for India.
The company has also attracted substantial investments from global investors. In 2020, Jio Platforms raised over $20.5 billion from investors including Meta, Google, KKR, Silver Lake, and General Atlantic at valuations ranging between $57 billion and $65 billion.
Reliance Industries currently holds a 66.43% stake in Jio Platforms, while other shareholders include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Meta, Google, KKR, and Silver Lake.
On the financial front, Jio Platforms reported a 13% year-on-year increase in net profit to ₹7,935 crore in Q4 FY26, compared to ₹7,023 crore in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, profit rose 4% from ₹7,629 crore. Operating revenue climbed 12.6% year-on-year to ₹38,259 crore from ₹33,986 crore in Q4 FY25 and also grew 2.7% quarter-on-quarter.
Source – Mint
