There was a time in the 1980s when pedigree and lineage counted for almost everything. Shareholders had blind faith in companies promoted by big business houses. Unfortunately, the faith has been misplaced and its consequences have been terrible. The companies of the Singhanias, Thapars, Goenkas and Modis have done quite badly. Those of the Birlas have also collectively destroyed wealth. ...

Investors worldwide adore Warren Buffett – often without fully knowing what he really does

In my view, derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal – Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report, 2002

Thus, our derivative positions will sometimes cause large swings in reported earnings – Warren Buffett,...

In business and in life, it smoothens interactions. Politicians, of course, believe in the opposite – ‘after me’

For many years, I thought this whole business of ‘after you’ was a social nicety. It distinguished the men from the boys. It separated those ‘who knew’ from those ‘who did not’. It was perhaps a Western import, sought to be absorbed in our local setting. Or ‘an imitation’ of our...