new delhi asias secondwealthiest man reliance industries ltd chairman mukesh ambani is setting up a family office in singapore according to people familiar with the move the mumbaibased billionaire has picked a manager to hire staff for the new entity and get it running the people said asking not to be identified because the matter is private the ambanis have also chosen real estate one of the people said a spokesman for reliance who also represents ambani wasnt available for commentambani is the latest in a series of ultrarich people to pick singapore for their family offices the organizations set up to manage the affairs of wealthy clans joining the likes of hedge fund billionaire ray dalio and google cofounder sergey brinthe citystate has become an attractive hub for family offices thanks to its low taxes and relative security the monetary authority of singapore estimates about 700 were in place by the end of 2021 up from 400 a year earlier but the rising number of global rich crowding singapores shores is also resulting in higher prices for cars housing and other goods deputy prime minister lawrence wong signaled in an august interview that the wealthy may face more taxes to boost inclusive growthambanis move to set up the family office ties in with his larger vision of taking his retailtorefining empire global and acquiring assets outside india while announcing the appointment of aramcos chairman on the board of reliance in 2021 the billionaire told his shareholders that this marked the beginning of internationalization of his conglomerate without elaborating you will hear more about our international plans in the times to come he had said at the timereliance paid 79 million for stoke park ltd in april 2021 adding an iconic uk locale thats been the setting for two james bond films it also bought an indirect 734 stake in mandarin oriental new york for 9815 million in january and an 80 million beachside villa in dubai this yearambani who is worth an estimated 837 billion according to the bloomberg wealth index wants the singapore family office to be running within a year one of the people said his wife nita ambani is also helping to set it up the people addedreliance has been pivoting from its legacy oil refining and petrochemicals business toward ecommerce green energy and the expansion of its retail footprint across india in 2020 its technology venture jio platforms ltd lured more than 25 billion from marquee silicon valley investors including meta platforms inc and google it has also unveiled ambitious plans to take on amazoncom inc in the country including in streaming