Reliance Share History: Reliance Industries is the biggest example of how much wealth one can build over time if one invests money in the right company in the stock market and leaves it. Today, when the shares of Reliance Group’s telecom company Jio Platforms made a strong entry in the market, the discussion of the 49-year-old history has once again started. When Reliance’s first IPO came in 1977, it was only Rs. 1,000 invested today to Rs. 53 lakh has been done. Jio’s stunning listing on Wednesday has rekindled memories of the same old success among investors.

Jio’s explosive listing, the issue was filled in 100 minutes

Shares of Jio Platform started their innings on the stock exchange on Wednesday. The company paid Rs. 30,188 crore for this mega IPO of Rs. An upper price band of 1119 was fixed. As soon as the market opened, the stock traded at a premium of 21.35 per cent to Rs. 1358 was listed. That is, on each share, investors get Rs. 239 in direct profit.

The market was so enthusiastic about this issue of Jio that it was fully subscribed in just 100 minutes on the first day. The company had put up 19.75 crore shares for sale, against which bids came for 438.26 crore shares. A total of Rs. 7.4 lakh crore was bid, of which Rs. 4.9 lakh crore came from public issue while Rs. 2.5 lakh crore was invested by anchor investors. Jio received over 1 crore applications, breaking Vari Energis’ record of 97 lakh applications. In which 1.02 crore applications were received in retail category, 9.66 lakh in NII and 3,143 in QIB.

That IPO of 1977, when 1000 rupees became 53 lakhs

This confidence of investors is not new for Reliance Group. In November 1977, when few people understood the stock market, the IPO of ‘Reliance Textile Industries’ took place. That issue was filled seven times. Then the company paid Rs. 10 by issuing 28.2 lakh shares at Rs. 2.82 crore was raised. On the day of listing, the stock was listed at Rs 17 to 18, due to which the investors made 70 to 80 percent profit on the first day. The company later became Reliance Industries Limited, which expanded its empire from clothing businesses to oil refining, petrochemicals, retail and telecom.

As the company grew, it also showered money on investors. If one had invested Rs 1,000 in that 1977 IPO and bought 100 shares, it would have been worth around Rs 53 lakh in 2026. In fact, the company has issued bonus shares 6 times since listing. The last time a 1:1 bonus was given was in August 2024. Because of these bonus shares, those initial 100 shares increased to 4,096 shares. As per 28 October 2026 price, these shares are worth Rs 48.74 lakh.

Shares of Jio Financial have made mixed gains

In the year 2023, there was also a big increase in the earnings of the investors. Reliance Industries then spun off ‘Jio Financial Services’ and listed it in the market. At that time, for every share of Reliance, one share of Jio Financial was given free. That is, investors who held 2,048 shares of Reliance before the 2024 bonus also got 2,048 shares of Jio Financial. By October 23, the price of these shares has reached 4.19 lakh rupees. Thus, Rs. 1,000 with a compounded annual return (CAGR) of 19.56 percent in 48 years and 11 months totaling Rs. 52.93 lakhs. Apart from this, the company has also given a dividend of thousands of rupees every year.

The journey has not been easy, there have been many ups and downs.

The journey to making money at Reliance was not always straightforward or easy. In the year 2006, there was a big split in the Ambani family. In which Mukesh Ambani did oil, gas and petrochemical business with Reliance Industries while Anil Ambani did power, telecom and financial business. After this, due to the global recession of 2008, Reliance shares fell by more than 57 percent in a single year, due to selling by foreign investors. The stock remained stuck in the same range between 2010 and 2016 as well.

After the launch of Jio in September 2016, the stock gained momentum again. In 2017, the stock gained more than 70 percent. Over the last 10 years, it has returned at a CAGR of 17 percent. However, shares are under pressure again in 2026. Despite Jio’s IPO, Reliance shares have fallen by around 24 percent this year. On October 13, 2026, it was Rs. It hit a 52-week low of 1,152.2. Margins of the company’s energy business are under pressure due to the rise in global crude oil prices. At the same time, the reintroduction of the windfall tax has also affected the company’s export profits.