Billionaire Mukesh Ambani has been ranked first among all Indians and second globally in the Brand Guardianship Index 2024 compiled by Brand Finance.

The chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd overtakes the likes of Microsoft's Satya Nadella, and Google's Sundar Pichai to be ranked No.2 globally only behind Tencent's Huateng Ma.

According to the publication, the Brand Guardianship Index is a global recognition of CEOs, who are building business value in a sustainable manner, by balancing the needs of all stakeholders - employees, investors, and the wider society.

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran is ranked at No.5, up from No.8 in the 2023 ranking. He is followed by Anish Shah of Mahindra & Mahindra at No.6 and Infosys' Salil Parekh at No.16.

In the 2023 ranking as well Ambani was placed at No.2 position globally.

This year he was ranked No.1 in Brand Guardianship Index 2024 among the 'Diversified' conglomerates.

Ambani was ranked ahead of global majors like Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Google's Sundar Pichai, Apple's Tim Cook and Tesla's Elon Musk.

Brand Finance's survey gave Ambani a BGI score of 80.3, just below 81.6 of Huateng Ma of China-based Tencent.

Brand Finance constructs a balanced scorecard of measures designed to identify the factors that best capture the ability of CEOs to act as a steward of their company's brand and steward long term value.

This year's analysis reveals that ESG has become the single most important driving force in determining CEO reputation.

Being regarded as 'a sustainability champion' accounts for 14 per cent of variation in reputation scores, ahead of factors such as perceived trustworthiness (12.5 per cent), having 'a strong strategy and vision' and global recognition.

According to Brand Finance, the role of a brand guardian is to build brand and business value.

It is a global recognition of the CEOs, who forge win-win partnerships to build a sustainable future, redefining the role of a CEO from ultra-competitive entrepreneur to collaborative diplomat.

The Brand Guardianship Index celebrates the CEOs, who balance the needs of commercial success, long-term brand building and personal reputation management.

The Brand Finance follows a balanced scorecard of measures that capture the ability of a CEO to act as the guardian of their company's brand and a steward of long-term shareholder value.

Brand Guardianship Index includes 'Perception' factors, which reflect current perceptions, 'Performance' factors, which reflect the tangible results of these perceptions, and 'Promotion' factors, which support future perceptions and performance.

Recently, Jio - a relatively new brand - was recognized as the strongest brand from India, in the latest report 'Global 500 - 2024' published by Brand Finance, ahead of multi-decade-old Indian brands like LIC and SBI.

Jio had topped India's strong brands in Brand Finance's 2023 rankings as well.

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