Summary: Billionaire banker Uday Kotak, speaking at the Chasing Growth 2025 investors conference, raised concerns about India’s declining entrepreneurial spirit. He criticized young business heirs for prioritizing financial investments over building new enterprises, particularly in the post-Covid era. Kotak urged them to start, buy, or build businesses instead of merely managing family offices and trading stocks. He emphasized the need for individuals aged 35-40 to contribute actively to the economy, stressing that the next generation should work hard to create operational businesses rather than becoming financial investors too soon.
At the Kotak Institutional Equities’ Chasing Growth 2025 investors conference, billionaire banker and Kotak Mahindra Bank’s founder, Uday Kotak, voiced his concerns about India’s economic trajectory. He noted a decline in the nation’s economic ‘animal spirits’ and expressed apprehension over the shifting mindset among young business heirs.
Kotak highlighted a growing trend where many inheritors of family wealth are choosing financial investments over entrepreneurial ventures. “What concerns me is that many in this generation are taking the easy way out, especially in the post-Covid world. They claim to be managing family offices, trading in the stock market, and allocating funds to mutual funds—treating it as a full-time job,” he said.
Encouraging young business heirs to embrace entrepreneurship, Kotak questioned their reluctance to build new enterprises. “If someone has sold a business, they should be thinking about starting, buying, or building another. Instead, I see many young people saying, ‘I’m running my family office.’ They should be creating real-world businesses. Why not start from scratch?”
He further stressed the importance of active contribution to the economy, particularly among individuals aged 35 to 40. “I would love to see this generation be hungry for success and build operational businesses. Even today, I firmly believe that the next generation must work hard and create businesses rather than becoming financial investors too early in life.”
Kotak’s remarks serve as a call to action for young business heirs to step beyond financial investing and actively participate in economic growth by establishing and running businesses. His message underscores the need for a dynamic and entrepreneurial approach to sustain India’s long-term economic momentum.
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