Meet Larry Summers’s Ex-Boss, a Billionaire with a Blood Feud

By Mark Ames, eXiled Online. Posted August 25, 2009.

The best way to understand Larry Summers, the man who’s shaping America’s economy from his director’s chair at the National Economic Council, is to meet the people he hangs out with. Once you get to know Larry Summers’ crowd, nothing he does–no matter how twisted (like Larry’s suggestion to move all First World toxic waste to Africa) or deranged (Larry’s theory that women can’t do math) -- will surprise you. Whereas the famous “Six Degrees Of Separation” gives the false impression that it’s a small world and we all pretty much know each other, this “One Degree of Separation” will prove how totally alien Larry Summers and his crowd really are from the rest of us.

I’d like to kick this series off with India’s top oligarch, Mukesh Ambani, the only foreign boss who paid Summers to work for him in 2008 -- and by “work,” I mean “you agree to be listed on my board of international advisors, which requires nothing from you, and in return I’ll give you $187,000.”  Two years ago, Larry’s ex-boss Mukesh was the World’s Richest Man, worth $63.2 billion -- but since the meltdown, the Reliance Industry chief’s wealth has fallen to a mere $19.5 billion, dropping him to #7 of Forbes’ list. 

What sets Mukesh apart from most of the world’s top billionaires isn’t the 60-story tall, $2 billion house he’s building for himself and his family on a swank Mumbai suburb, or the $60 million Airbus 319 -- complete with master bedroom suite, entertainment center, and barroom -- that Mukesh bought his wife for her birthday a few years ago. No, it’s the insane blood feud that Mukesh has going with his billionaire younger brother, Anil Ambani -- culminating in a helicopter sabotage act that’s right out of a Hawaii Five-0 episode.

You may have heard of Anil Ambani -- he’s the Indian billionaire who saved Hollywood by signing billion-dollar deals with Spielberg and Dreamworks to take a piece of future blockbuster film projects. Anil used to be almost even with Mukesh, ranking #6 on Forbes’ list last year when Mukesh was #5. The competition is as fierce as it is petty -- after Mukesh bought his wife the $60 million Airbus, younger brother Anil bought his wife an $80 million yacht. But last fall’s financial crash has been rougher on Anil -- his net-worth fell from $42 billion last year to just $10 billion this year, placing him at #34 on Forbes’ list. So you can see why a guy like Larry Summers would choose Mukesh -- the wealthier, fatter, older brother -- over Anil, the sleek marathon-running jetsetter with the Bollywood starlet wife.

Mukesh and Anil have been at each other’s throats ever since their father–who built Reliance up from scratch -- died in 2002 without leaving a will. The two brothers immediately went to war over who controlled the company, Reliance, forcing their mother to intervene and broker a deal in 2005 carving up the assets into two separate Reliance empires. Mukesh, the older brother, got control of the petrochemicals part of the business, Reliance Industries. Anil got control of the telecoms and power-generation part of daddy’s business–Reliance Communications and Reliance Power.

You’d think they’d be happy with what they had, but then you don’t know Larry Summers’ ex-boss very well: The two have been conspiring to destroy each other ever since their daddy died, and it just keeps getting worse. Three years ago, when Anil was about to close a $50 billion buyout of the largest telecom firm in Africa and make his Reliance Communications one of the world’s largest, older brother Mukesh stepped in, invoked a right-of-refusal clause from the agreement they’d cut with their mommie, and killed the deal. See, Mukesh claims he’s the one who really started Reliance’s telecom business, and the thought that Anil might turn it into the next AT&T was something Mukesh could not countenance. So Larry’s ex-boss killed the deal, and another Indian oligarch swooped in and bought it instead.

The mutually-assured destruction between the brothers hasn’t stopped there. Mukesh is being accused now of going back on a deal whereby the billions of untapped gas reserves he owns aren’t being sold to Anil’s power-generating business, because Mukesh wants a better price, and Anil refuses to pay that price. While India waits for Larry Summers’ ex-boss to stop fucking with his younger brother, India suffers power outages, and the country’s investment reputation is suffering.

But the most amazing twist to this feud took place a few months ago, when a helicopter mechanic working for Anil noticed during a pre-flight inspection that the gear box cap had been tampered with. The mechanic opened up the cap, and saw that someone had poured gravel and mud into the gear box. It was an obvious act of sabotage, and the most obvious suspect that everyone (but the police) looked to was none other than Larry Summers’ boss, Mukesh.

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Read more of Mark Ames at eXiledonline.com. He is the author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond.

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