Ambani vs Adani: Do Degrees Matter? What India’s Top 2 Richest Men Studied

The names Ambani and Adani are huge in Indian business. But what’s behind their success? One went to college, the other learned by doing. What can we learn from their different paths?

Born in 1957, Mukesh Ambani finished school in Mumbai. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the prestigious Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT).

He went to Stanford for his MBA but dropped out in 1980 to help his father’s business. His formal education was key to launching huge projects like the Jamnagar Refinery and Jio.

Born in 1962 in Ahmedabad, Gautam Adani dropped out of school at 16. He moved to Mumbai and started as a diamond sorter, which became his first real business lesson.

Returning to Ahmedabad in 1981, he managed his brother’s plastics business. He learned about supply chains not from books, but by diving right in. Every risk was a lesson.

Ambani and Adani took different paths to the same goal. Ambani’s structured education taught him how to approach problems, while Adani’s hands-on learning taught him how to solve them on the fly.

It depends on how you look at it. Traditionally, Ambani’s education is superior. But Adani’s journey, building an empire from scratch, is amazing. Their lives prove there’s more than one path to success.

Ambani shows the value of formal education, while Adani proves the power of hands-on experience. Their lesson: It’s not just what you know, but how you use it. Learning is a lifelong journey.