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I was blissfully ignorant of the greatest, most cut-throat corporate war ever fought on Indian soil 🙏🙏 I'm talking about Dhirubhai Ambani and Nusli Wadia’s clash, a saga so fierce it shook the very foundations of the Indian corporate world in the 80s. It was a war where Dhirubhai wielded all the weapons - Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed - to leave Wadia grooup and his Bombay Dyeing in the dust. And the outcome? It's etched in history as - THE POLYESTER WAR! .. It was a gladiatorial contest with no holds barred 📛📛 Both Ambani and Wadia, with their sights locked on the burgeoning polyester market, were in a race to get the licenses for big manufacturing plants. -> Wadia took the lead, securing his license during the favourable Janata Party government in the late 70s -> But, the moment Congress returned to power, Dhirubhai was back in the game. That meant he got his license too, with a little help from his friends in high places But here's where the plot thickened, as both chose different raw materials. .. Ambani chose to produce polyester using Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), while Wadia opted for Dimethyl Terephthalate (DMT). PTA was more efficient, but DMT was cheaper. Thus, Wadia had a big pricing power. In response, Dhirubhai launched a price war that would make history - selling polyester at downright suicidal prices 🙏🙏 And he didn't just dip his toe. He swam in losses for years, armed with a fortune amassed through what Wadia claimed was sheer manipulation of the stock markets. .. But even this sustained brute force price war wasn't enough to finish the job. And that's when after about a decade of insane war, Ambani (allegedly) played his dirtiest card yet - political manoeuvring 📛📛 -> With politicians allegedly in his pocket at the Centre, he got the Govt to slash import duties on PTA dramatically -> That made Reliance’s polyester way cheaper to produce and sell, rendering Bombay Dyeing's products uncompetitive by a big margin Result? Wadia’s Bombay Dyeing was left at a small scale, while Dhirubhai grew bigger and bigger. .. I know this is going to offend many 🙏🙏 But, this is why “The Polyester Wars" became synonymous with how business is done in India, where victory was as much about outsmarting the system, outplaying rivals, and outlasting them with any means necessary. And this is why Dhirubhai’s legacy isn't just in the wealth he accumulated but in the narrative of a battle that showed the world the lengths one could go to win in business, regardless of the ethical cost. Did you know all of this? ..