Thread by @NikhilToni

How do you monopolize an entire industry?

Mukesh Ambani—Asia’s richest man—did it by giving away $25 billion.

They laughed... until he bankrupted 11 rivals, built a $100B empire, and rewired India’s economy.

This is the most ruthless business takeover in modern history: 🧵

Back in 2016, India’s telecom space was ruled by Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea, holding over 70% of the market.

Mobile data was painfully expensive—$3–5 per GB—making internet access a luxury for millions.

But everything was about to change…

Enter Mukesh Ambani, then worth $92 billion and chairman of Reliance Industries—a conglomerate controlling nearly 10% of India’s GDP.

He had already conquered oil, petrochemicals, and retail.

Telecom was going to be his next—and most strategic—move.

Ambani quietly built Jio, India’s first 4G only network investing $35 billion

While competitors were still stuck on 3G, Jio had already covered 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages.

But great infrastructure alone wasn’t enough he needed mass adoption.

Then came the masterstroke.

His radical strategy:

ALL Jio services FREE for 6 months.
• Unlimited calls
• Unlimited texts
• Unlimited 4G data

“Financial suicide,” critics said.

They had no idea what was coming next.

The results were explosive:

• 16M users in the first month
• 50M by month three
• 100M+ by month six

This wasn’t just customer growth—it was an invasion.

And the competition could only watch helplessly.

Ambani wasn’t just giving away data—he was rewiring consumer habits.

Millions who had never used the internet were now streaming, video calling, and living online.

Once they experienced it, there was no going back.

Exactly as Ambani intended.

Rivals panicked. They slashed prices by 80%.

But it was too late. Jio had already wiped out $25B in competitor market value.

Smaller carriers started collapsing one by one.

The telecom massacre had begun.

When Jio finally started charging, the price was just $0.15/GB—95% cheaper than before.

Even with rock-bottom rates, Jio stayed profitable thanks to its modern infrastructure.

Competitors were trapped in a game they couldn’t win.

The aftermath was brutal:

• Vodafone & Idea forced to merge
• Airtel posted its first loss in 15 years
• 11 carriers shrank to just 4
• 150,000 jobs vanished

It wasn’t disruption—it was obliteration.

But for India’s people, it was liberation.

For consumers, the revolution was life-changing:

• Data usage surged 50x to 10GB/month
• Internet penetration jumped from 27% to 47%
• India became the world’s cheapest data market

And Ambani’s master plan? Still far from done.

With over 400M subscribers, Jio expanded into:

• E-commerce
• Broadband
• Fintech
• Video conferencing

The $25B “giveaway” wasn’t a loss—it was a setup for a digital empire.

The gamble paid off:

Jio became a $70B telecom giant.

By 2020, the world’s biggest tech firms came knocking:
• Google: $4.5B
• Facebook: $5.7B
• Intel & Qualcomm joined in

What once looked like madness became a masterclass in strategy.

Today, Jio is worth over $100B with 40% market share.

What seemed like “financial suicide” turned out to be one of the smartest business plays ever.

India’s digital economy now exceeds $200B, and digital payments hit 8.3B monthly transactions.

Ambani saw what others didn’t:

Telecom isn’t just an industry—it’s the backbone of the digital world.

By making it nearly free, he made Jio the heart of India’s digital revolution.

Next question—which industry will he conquer next?

Read my other thread here 👇\

https://x.com/NikhilToni/status/1986801723374190766