New Delhi: Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani drew no salary for the sixth consecutive year in FY26, even as the oil-to-telecom conglomerate reported its highest-ever annual profit, according to the company’s latest annual report.

While Asia’s second richest man continued to forgo remuneration voluntarily, several top executives and board members of Reliance Industries received multi-crore compensation packages during the financial year.

Ambani, 69, received nil salary, allowances, perquisites, retiral benefits, commission or stock options in FY2025-26. He had first given up his salary in June 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and has continued the decision since then.

Before opting for zero remuneration, Ambani had capped his annual salary at Rs 15 crore from FY2008-09 to FY2019-20 as a personal example of moderation in executive compensation.

Despite not drawing a salary, Ambani continues to earn through dividends from his shareholding in Reliance Industries. He directly owns 1.61 crore shares in the company, translating into dividend earnings of Rs 9.66 crore for FY25 based on the Rs 6 per share dividend declared by the firm.

In addition, promoter group entities controlled by the Ambani family hold 664.5 crore shares, or 50.07 per cent of the company, resulting in dividend income of nearly Rs 3,987 crore.

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Among Reliance’s top management, cousins Nikhil Meswani and Hital Meswani remained the highest-paid executives, with remuneration unchanged at Rs 25 crore each in FY26.

Their compensation included Rs 10 crore in salary, allowances and perquisites, Rs 44 lakh in retiral benefits and Rs 14.56 crore as commission on profits.

Executive Director P M S Prasad saw his remuneration rise to Rs 20.58 crore in FY26 from Rs 19.96 crore in the previous financial year.

Mukesh Ambani’s children — Akash Ambani, Isha Ambani and Anant Ambani — also featured in the annual report’s remuneration details.

Akash and Isha, who joined the Reliance board in October 2023 as non-executive directors, did not receive salaries but were paid Rs 5 lakh each as sitting fees along with commissions of Rs 2.5 crore each.

Anant Ambani, who was appointed Executive Director last year, earned Rs 12.17 crore in FY26, including a commission of Rs 2.29 crore.

The annual report also detailed payments to independent directors and board members, including former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, veteran banker K V Kamath, former Central Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary, Raminder Singh Gujral, Shumeet Banerji and Saudi Aramco chairman Yasir Othman H Al Rumayyan.

Independent directors received commissions of Rs 2.5 crore each in FY26, up from Rs 2.25 crore in the previous year, in addition to sitting fees.

Reliance Industries posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 95,754 crore in FY26, the highest in its history, while its market capitalisation stood at Rs 18.19 lakh crore, or about USD 191.8 billion.

Ambani, who has served on the Reliance board since 1977 and became chairman after the death of founder Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002, was reappointed in 2023 for another five-year term until April 2029. He has chosen to continue without drawing any salary during this tenure.

(PTI)