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Ambanis among top 50 who matter most
The Ambani brothers are ranked 31 ahead of the likes of PepsiCo CEO Nooyi & Richard Branson by a Fortune group magazine.
Estranged Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil have been jointly named among the world's 50 most influential people in business, thanks to their rivalry that has goaded them to steer their respective businesses to new heights.
The Ambanis are ranked 31 ahead of the likes of global soft drink giant PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and music-to-airlines conglomerate Virgin Group's founder Richard Branson in the second annual list of "The 50 Who Matter Now" published by Fortune group magazine 'Business 2.0'.
The list, topped by Google trio - CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Bin - also includes Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs (2nd rank), News Corp CEO and media baron Rupert Murdoch (6th) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (8th).
As regards the Ambanis, the magazine noted that it was their bitter rivalry that was driving them to excellence in their respective businesses.
"These billionaire brothers from India are locked in a bitter intra-family rivalry, and each seems intent on leading the group of companies he inherited from their late father in a different direction," Business 2.0 said on why they matter.
"Elder brother Mukesh is building one of the world's biggest oil refineries and has embarked on a bold plan to revolutionise Indian agriculture," it said.
"Not to be outdone, flashy younger brother Anil is building one of the world's biggest power plants using clean-burning natural gas. He has also created Reliance Communications, the world's fastest-growing CDMA mobile-phone network, and has announced plans to invest billions in India's enterprise broadband network," the magazine said.
