RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka expressed gratitude to JSW Steel Managing Director Sajjan Jindal for praising his son Anant Goenka.
Jindal said Harsh Goenka’s son, Anant Goenka, is ‘smarter’ than his father while highlighting the exceptional performance of the next generation of business leaders.
“To a point, Harsh Goenka’s son is smarter than Harsh Goenka, and he’s doing an extremely good job,” Jindal stated at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards programme. He also praised Uday Kotak’s son, Jay Kotak and said, “Jay is extremely smart, working in the bank, and doing extremely well.”
Goenka shared a clip of Jindal’s statement on the social media platform, X and wrote, “The greatest joy for a father is hearing that his son is smarter than him. Feeling truly happy today as my friend @sajjanjindal put it beautifully.”
Jindal also agreed that several next-generation business leaders prefer to take over family offices instead of building businesses or taking risks. He shared an instance where his Harvard-educated son wanted to invest in an EV two-wheeler company in Bengaluru.
“I told him, ‘Not at all a good idea. I want you to work. I want you to make money and not use my money, what I have earned over the years,” the JSW MD said.
Uday Kotak on next-generation business leaders
Jindal’s statement comes after the founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak, raised concerns over the growing tendency among young business heirs to “take the easy way” and “manage family offices and investments” instead of “creating a real-world business”.
“I would love to see this generation be hungry for success and build operational businesses,” said Uday Kotak at the Kotak Institutional Equities investor conference.
Sajjan Jindal takes a dig at Elon Musk
In the same event, Jindal claimed that Tesla boss Elon Musk would not disrupt the Indian market and instilled faith in Indian brands such as Tata and Mahindra.
“Elon Musk is not here. He is in the US….We Indians are here. He cannot produce what Mahindra can do, what Tata can do—it’s not possible,” Jindal said.
“He can do under Trump’s shadow, in the US. He’s super smart, no question about it. He’s a maverick, doing spacecraft and all that. He’s done amazing work, so I don’t want to take anything from him. But to be successful in India is not an easy job,” he added.
