Multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani arrives in Korea for meeting with Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s Reliance Industries and Asia’s wealthiest individual, visited Korea on November 25 for a one-day trip to meet with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Samsung’s top executives gathered to welcome Ambani, reflecting the importance of the visit and the deepening of Lee’s global business network.

According to Korea’s business community, Ambani and his eldest son Akash Ambani, chairman of the board of Reliance Jio Infocomm, reportedly arrived at Gimpo International Airport around 8 a.m. on a private jet and were scheduled to head back to India by 10 p.m. This marks the first time the father and son have visited Korea together.

Ambani heads India’s largest conglomerate, with operations spanning petrochemicals, energy and telecommunications in the country of over 1.4 billion people. Forbes estimates his wealth at $111.4 billion, making him the richest person in India and all of Asia, and the 15th richest globally. In 2012, he launched a nationwide 4G LTE network in India, investing over 40 trillion won ($27 billion). Samsung has been the exclusive supplier of telecommunications equipment for the project for more than a decade.

Executives from global tech giants — including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai — have also courted Ambani in pursuit of business opportunities in India.

Samsung is going all out to treat its VIP guest with the utmost courtesy. The company has planned a tightly packed 14-hour schedule. One of Ambani’s stops was the Samsung Innovation Museum at the company’s Suwon complex, the world’s largest electronics industry museum and a frequent destination for foreign dignitaries. Notably, Roh Tae-moon, head of Samsung’s DX division overseeing mobile and consumer electronics, will personally guide Ambani through the museum.

Ambani will also visit Samsung’s Giheung and Hwaseong campuses. Giheung, where Samsung’s semiconductor business began in 1983, was the site of the world’s first 64-megabyte DRAM development in 1992. Hwaseong now represents the future of the company’s chipmaking, housing its advanced foundry operations. Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun, who oversees Samsung’s semiconductor division, is expected to greet Ambani there.

“Ambani and his son originally planned to tour the network division at Samsung’s Suwon site, but the itinerary was later changed to showcase Samsung’s legacy,” a Samsung official said. “Chairman Lee is said to have finalized the visit schedule himself.”

Ambani’s final event in Korea will be a dinner with Lee at a private location in Seoul. As befits Asia’s richest family, the Ambanis dispatched their own security team in advance to inspect the entire route in detail.

Lee’s extensive personal ties with business and political leaders around the world have long been one of Samsung’s strengths. If Reliance Industries and Samsung strike a major deal following this trip, it will likely be credited to Lee’s global network. Lee was the only Korean invited to all three weddings of Ambani’s children — in 2018, 2019 and 2024. His appearance in traditional Indian attire at Akash Ambani’s 2019 wedding drew considerable attention in India.

BY KIM KI-HWAN [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]