Nita Ambani

Nita Dalal Mukesh Ambani (born 1 November 1963) is the chairperson and founder of Reliance Foundation and a non-executive director of Reliance Industries. She is a Philanthropist and sport lover. With a family fortune estimated in excess of USD$20 billion, she is reportedly India's wealthiest woman. She is married to Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani. She is also an art collector and owner of the Mumbai Indians cricket team.

Ambani has received numerous honors including a place in the 2016 edition of both the most influential women business leaders in Asia list by Forbes and the fifty high and mighty Indians list by India Today. She is the first Indian woman to become a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Nita Ambani was honoured by the Metropolitan Museum in New York for her work in philanthropy, education and promoting the arts.

Nita Ambani (nee Dalal) was born on November 1, 1963 in Mumbai to Ravindrabhai Dalal and Purnima Dalal. She completed her bachelor's degree in Commerce from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics. She studied Bharata Natyam, and performed frequently.

Nita Ambani started out as the founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, the CSR arm of Reliance Industries. She is also the owner of Mumbai Indians. In 2014, she was elected to the board of Reliance Industries.

Mumbai Indians

Ambani is also the co-owner of Indian Premier League team, Mumbai Indianswho won the Champions League T20 in 2011 and 2013 and, the Indian Premier League in 2013 and 2015.

She has also led the ‘Education for All’ (EFA) initiative as part of Mumbai Indians’ way of giving back to society. EFA has reached over 70,000 underprivileged children and created awareness for education using various media and digital platforms.

IOC membership

On 3 June 2016, Ambani was among eight candidates nominated for membership in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the Swiss-based panel. The election of these new members was held during the 129th IOC Session in the first week of August 2016. Ambani was elected as a member of the IOC on 4 August 2016, its first Indian woman member.

Nita Ambani is the daughter of Ravindrabhai Dalal and Purnima Dalal. She has a sister, Mamta Dalal, who works as a school teacher. Nita grew up in a middle-class environment in suburban Mumbai. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer.

She married Mukesh Ambani, the son of the Indian business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1985. After marriage, she worked as a teacher for a few years.

They have two sons and a daughter together. Twins Akash and Isha Ambani are the eldest of the three siblings, while Anant Ambani is the youngest.

Akash Ambani, an Economics graduate from Brown University is now Chief of Strategy at Reliance Jio Infocomm. Isha Ambani, a graduate in Psychology from Yale University is now a Director at Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail.