Kamath, who had previously said that doing an MBA at 25 can be ‘idiotic,’ was asked why he chose to speak at a business school if he did not see value in such degrees.
“A few months ago, you made a statement that said that if you are 25, and you are getting your MBA, you must be some kind of idiot,” said Anaheez Patel during the Indian Business Conference. “You went on to defend it, saying you can do case studies using ChatGPT,” she added.
Before she could complete her question, Kamath interrupted and asked if she was the same person who had posted a video about his remark online. “Were you the one who posted online?” he asked.
When she agreed, Kamath replied, “I saw that video.” She responded, “I’m glad the algorithm did its work, and it reached you.”
Patel then pressed further, asking Kamath why he chose to attend the event despite his views on MBA degrees. “If you didn’t see the value in being at a business school, why would you be here? What is your opinion on that?” she asked, as the room broke into laughter and applause.
Kamath said an MBA costs around $300,000 per person. So, if there are about 500 students in the room at Columbia Business School, that means the group together represents about $90 million. “I hope knowing rich kids of India of tomorrow has some value to me in the future. Hence, I’m here,” he replied.
The interaction comes a few months after Kamath sparked controversy during an AMA session at Zerodha. At that time, he had said that if someone is 25 and going for an MBA, they might be making a poor decision.
“Everything you are taught in an MBA college is available for free on YouTube,” he said earlier, adding, “I can go to ChatGPT and deep research a case study or build a case study in a way that an MBA college could have taught me. The syllabus is not as dynamic as the open-sourced world is.”
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: Apr 6, 2026 2:22 PM IST
