In an absolutely unexpected turn that has paralyzed social networks and the media around the planet, the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani, has burst into Shakira’s life with a declaration of platonic love and an economic offer that seems taken from a millionaire fairy tale. “She is my muse, she is all the years of my youth,” the 67-year-old Indian tycoon confessed before hundreds of journalists gathered in Mumbai, visibly emotional and with his voice breaking.
Ambani, president of Reliance Industries and with a personal fortune that exceeds $120 billion according to the latest Forbes list, did not limit himself to nice words. In an unprecedented gesture in entertainment history, he offered to fully finance all of the Colombian’s future world tours, with no budget or duration limit, and announced an initial investment of $1 billion to create what he described as “the largest creative empire ever built for a single artist.”
The project, provisionally named “Shakira World”, would include state-of-the-art recording studios in Mumbai, Los Angeles, Barcelona and Barranquilla; a proprietary network of smart music devices designed exclusively for your voice; mobile stages with never-before-seen holographic technology; and, above all, a sovereign fund that would guarantee the artist total economic and artistic independence for the rest of her life and that of her children. “She will never again have to negotiate with any record company, any promoter or any algorithm. Shakira will decide everything: when she sings, where she sings, how much she charges and who it benefits,” Ambani explained while projecting renders of a futuristic complex that looked like a mix between the Burj Khalifa and the Camp Nou.
The proposal occurred during a private dinner organized at the Antilia residence, the most expensive private skyscraper in the world, to which Shakira had been invited for a supposed charity event. According to sources present, when Ambani finished explaining his plan, the room became absolutely silent. The singer, dressed in a simple white dress, put her hands to her face and burst into tears. “No one had ever spoken to me like that… or offered me something so big without asking for anything in return,” she managed to articulate through tears.
But what happened next left Ambani himself speechless.
Shakira stood up, approached the magnate, took his hands and, with a trembling but firm voice, responded: “Mukesh, what you offer me is bigger than any dream I’ve ever had. But I can’t accept it like this. If we are going to do this, we will do it together, but not just for me. I want half of that investment to go to building free music schools in Colombia, India, Lebanon and in all the countries where there are children who dream like I dreamed. And I want the another 50% will serve to create an emergency fund for female artists who are going through what I went through: painful separations, media trials, tax problems… No one should have to choose between their art and their dignity.”
Silence once again took over the room, but this time it was Ambani who had to dry his eyes. “I accept. And I double the investment,” the magnate responded without hesitation, causing the guests to burst into applause and cheers. In a matter of minutes, the video recorded with mobile phones by those present went viral: Shakira and Mukesh Ambani hugging while she repeated “this is not for money, this is for music and for children.”
Hours later, Shakira herself published a black and white photo on her Instagram of both of them holding hands with the following message: “Today someone reminded me that the biggest dreams are not those that one fulfills alone. Thank you Mukesh for believing in me more than I have believed in myself at times. This is not a contract, it is a soul pact. Soon we will tell you everything. And yes… it is going to be the craziest and most beautiful project you have ever seen. #ShakiraWorldIsNotOnlyMine.”
The news has unleashed a global madness. Shares of Reliance Industries rose 4% on the Mumbai Stock Exchange in the first few hours after the announcement. Producers, managers and artists from all over the world have flooded the networks with messages of admiration and, in many cases, healthy envy. “This is what happens when two people decide to use their power to heal instead of to dominate,” wrote Alejandro Sanz. “Something has just been born that will change the industry forever,” J Balvin tweeted.
Meanwhile, in Barranquilla there is already talk of converting the land where Shakira took her first steps into the first headquarters of the future educational campus. And in Mumbai, the most prestigious architects in the world have received the call: they have carte blanche to design “the place where the voice of a Latina woman will be free forever.”
For the first time in a long time, Shakira is not crying out of pain or anger. Cry with pure emotion. And the whole world cries with her, but this time with happiness.
