'India is a socialist society pretending to be capitalistic’: Zerodha CEO on ‘Why Indians hate rich people'

Indian stockbroking giant Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath, while speaking at the TechSparks 2024 event in Bengaluru, echoed the views shared by YourStory founder Shraddha Sharma on how wealth is perceived in India.

Sharma said that in the U.S., success and wealth are celebrated, saying, "In the US, if someone makes a lot of money, if they are very successful and buy new cars, then it comes on the cover page. And it’s very normal - buying a jet and all is very normal. And as a society also, they don’t look down on them."

She contrasted this with India, where, according to her, people tend to judge those who become wealthy, often thinking, 'ismein kuch toh galat hoga’ (he must be doing something wrong).

Kamath agrees to Shraddha's viewpoint

Kamath agreed with this viewpoint and linked it to India’s socialist mindset. “US is a pure bred capitalistic society. We are a socialist-pretending-to-be-capitalistic society,” said Kamath.

“At the heart of it, we are all socialists.” 

He further expressed doubt that this perception would change anytime soon, adding, “I don’t see how it changes. Because as long as there’s going to be as much inequality in terms of wealth, I don’t see anything changing."