FINANCE WHIZ

Because

he is the government’s first port of call on issues related to the corporate world, and chaired a committee on corporate governance which recommended sweeping changes in how companies should conduct themselves on issues of good governance

Because

he doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind when it comes to policy, whether it is saying the Indian banking system is in “stasis” and we need fewer public sector banks, or that old industries are destroying jobs instead of creating them, or recently calling the substantial rise in stock prices a ‘bubble’

Because

he is leveraging technology at Kotak Mahindra Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, to double customer base and looking to acquire businesses across the financial sector. His financial services company has a current market capitalisation of Rs 2.15 lakh crore

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

His family was traditionally involved in trading in cotton and agricultural commodities, but Kotak chose financial consulting after a visit to the Bombay Stock Exchange in his early twenties

FAMILY TRUST

Named his business Kotak Mahindra after observing the success of American business families Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley

BUSINESS GURUS

His father and grandfather. Grandfather Amritlal had an eye for detail, while his father Suresh, he says, was good with the big picture, he says