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sure harish salve is rich but he is 67 years old and nowhere to be found on the forbes billionaires list which is the only mark of monetary success. kamath is 35 years old and is worth 1.1 Bn $. He became a billionaire at 33.

1: Both are wild outcomes in their respective fields. Harish salve is the best lawyer in the country but Kamath is not the biggest entrepreneur yet trumps salve in terms of money.

2: We all will not act as if money doesn't matter since it is the only thing that matters.

With all due respect, what explains the wealth gap and is law even worth it if the best case scenario isn't a billionaire even at 67 years of age. I am not trying to mock him, I know he is filthy rich but as a newbie in the profession where "grind till you die" is the motto, I want to ask, what is the point if we don't have any shot at being a billionaire? Thanks sir/ma'am
No one who aims to be a billionaire should be a lawyer.

Not everyone wants to be a billionaire. Some people are okay with being affluent and that's fine. A career in law will get you there.
No lawyer, doctor, engineer in the world has become a billionaire through their profession alone, its a spot reserved for business men and politicians
Dr shamsher vayalil dr azad moopen dr devi shetty dr naresh trehan dr pratap singh reddy nd many more are billionaire..
Well, rage bait, salve may not want to be in the list, Kamath is a bubble in the making . Ever thought of that, Einstein?
Can you please explain how Kamath is a bubble? Of all the stories I've heard, it sounds like he is opposite to a bubble? He has organic growth, no investor money, profitable since a long time.
If so, what are you doing about it?

If you want to be a footballer, you don't play table tennis!
Have you seen the famous metaphor of 'Sagar Manthan'?

The one between 'Rakshasas' and 'Devas'?

It's a symbol of all that's going on ever since the start of human civilization.

Rakshasas are not 'evil' in the simplistic western sense. Rather they symbolize those who are motivated by 'material' endeavours. This notion views humans as victims of their temptations - for money, power, lust, greed, envy.

Devas are not 'good' in the simplistic western sense. Rather they symbolize those who are motivated by the internal principle. This notion views humans as more than as mere victims of their temptations and are motivated by a higher principle which requires sacrifices, perseverance, patience, self-control and rising above temptations.

You just have to decide whether you define your life by a materialistic principle or something more than that. Your choice will have consequences on your life and perhaps some impact on the larger social fabric as well - about which you can know only in your hindsight. But if something goes wrong, then don't worry, you don't have to take the guilt for it, as someone down the years will get the required reason to act to correct the wrong.

Bottomline is you can't really try to moralize your situation or your choices as everything can be morally reasoned given the right kind of context. It's just knowing the context of your life, and doing what you want to do. The context of your life is important because it can bring you rootedness and an organic reason to take action although nothing stops you from acting out of your context.
Join a Tier-1 law firm from a tier-1 NLU around the age of 23-25 after getting good grades in college (maybe top 10-15). Work brilliantly and gain a work ex of minimum 3-4 years. Give gmat. Score 760+(try to score M7) or take CAT one or two years earlier and try to score the top 3 IIMs. After your MBA try to work with KKR , Blackstone - at least for 4-5 years. By the time you are 36-37 , try to form you a startup with your trusted connections you formed over your college years and work experience . If everything goes well , your startup will get good attention and you will become a billionaire within 44-45 .

If you wanna reduce this age to 40-42 , then to get a TC and give GMAT from there. You will settle early and can think about business .

Peace out ✌️
Why do law, if you wanna eventually write the GMAT anyway. Also ye tier 1 NLU + tier 1 law firm ka kya taluk hai.

KKR and Blackstone are PE Firms, you don't need to have worked there for starting a business.

By doing an MBA you will have to climb the ladder, which is so steep and long, you will hardly cross "upper middle class". Then you will be too old to handle a new startup.

if you wanna be a billionaire, you should do business, you need not even have to be a qualified MBA grad. Having aided in early fundraisers recently, I can offer some advice-

1. Start something attractive that can be marketed online easily and quickly.

2. Be active on all social media, and make reels, videos etc. on the product/ idea prototype. This is sheer luck but must catch the eye.

3. Please only include partners, if you can trust them with your life. Because if you wanna be a billionaire, you cant have everyone becoming one too.

4. Get you first seed funding only after you have sufficient products out, this requires lot of investment in marketing, so bootstrap well.

5. Once you see steady revenue take on larger fundings and then you can get a better advisor :)
Good points. But I will prefer OP’s approach because that is a bit more safe. And after working at KKR/Blackstone , no one remains β€œupper middle class” xD. They are quite well-off. After that , it’s one’s individual aspiration- whether they want to keep working for that firm or they wanna kickoff a startup. And 40-47 age range is fairly young for a person to have a fascinating business. Tier1+Tier1(NLU/Law Firm) might be a stretch but if I just have to take the idea from it , just be meritorious in your 20-30 age range. And gmat helps for world-building and connections.
Why not compare their actual assets and cash in hand? Considering these 'billionaires' have their own stocks in the valuation that they cannot ever possibly liquidate - making it very, very pointless comparison.
They take loans against it and purchase super yatchs and islands, you can easily find a way to securitise
Yeah, that reduces their net worth as per the very basic accounting principles! More debt = less net worth!

So again, they do not have anything concrete to spend. Take loans and pray your company doesn't fail (and if Lehman and Bear sterns can fail, these new age chintu billionaires are nothing).
Salve makes cold hard cash everyday, minimal expenses (so pretty much pure profit) and at this point in his career 0 risk.

Wealth primarily based on shareholding in a company is great but it’s not cash in your hand and there is always the possibility it all goes to 0.

Bigger and more respected companies than zero dha have collapsed spectacularly. Not saying it will happen to them but risk is inherent in business.

So apple meet orange.
Do you even realise how much money he has already kept in safe havens?? Your company might collapse on paper and be worthless but individual who has shot to fame doesn't collapse if they were financial smart with their previous money. Just look at Vijay Malaya, do you think he has any less money than your salve?? May be less reputation but he can buy whatever salve can with 3 times over and still have huge chunk of money. You're surely one of those who have no idea how corporate works and more so how owners of corporate works.
You think Salve wouldn't? The top ranking TAX lawyer? Whose name appeared in Panama Papers?

Again, these newly made "billionaires" are billionaires only because of valuation of their own stocks, which they cannot liquidate and can go to zero very quick. Nikola had a billion dollar valuation too. Where is it now?

Also, anyone would rather be Salve than Mallya. At least you can travel to whichever country you want, freely.
Those big companies primarily collapse because of "conducts" of their promoters a.k.a largest shareholders. These people sell their stake much before cuz they know the impending collapse overnight.

It's 99.99% impossible for a person with a hundred million stake, even in one company, to get it vanished. The 0.01 is a stake in crypto exchanges, corps, highly crypto invested companies, virtual art scams etc. Even then, the biggest shareholders usually hold a lot of assets under offshore Personal trusts, even salve had done that ( Panama papers).

But yes, salve could and must be a lot richer than the basic calculation of 365 Γ— No. Of hearings per day on average accounting for case load seasons Γ— 15 to 20 lakhs
Being a billionaire and all is cute, but do you really think Kamath has more power and influence than Salve in society? The kind of connections Salve has gives him real power. Wealth after all is only a means to an end, the end being power.
Wrong comparison. We should compare N's son with H. Because whatever H is having today, 90% of it due to his father's contacts. N made everything of his own.

I know lawyers don't respect first generation people, but have some soft corner for N here as an exception.
Lawyers don't understand first generation talent. It is just out of syllabus for them.
Why don't people understand its not easy to become a billionaire in a socialist country
Yeah but it's easy af in a cronny capitalist society, which this is. Pay bribes and businesses have the moon.
Salve is worth 4000 crores and earns 200 crores a year so it’s really not that bad
The Zerodha dude is dating Manushi Chillar. That itself is worth billions!
Kamath is an inspiration and directly employs about 1000. He must be paying a handsome salary to top 20 percent of his employees. Nithin Kamath can sell of his stakes for an amount that Salve could not make in his entire lifetime. By the way, Kamath is a business man and Salve is a lawyer. A lawyer always is at best a side kick and not the person who runs the show.
"sell his stakes" - LMAO. For very obvious reasons that have already been discussed, no, he cannot do this. And definitely not for an amount that "Salve could not make in his entire lifetime

and thinking lawyers don't run the show - in the business sense, yeah, but someone at the level of Salve will always have the right connections that run most of the things around you.
Kamath can never feel the high which harish gets when he stands in the courtroom and argue.
Salve is on a 100 crore yearly retainer from Reliance and Adani, thats 200 Cr just in the vent that they need him.
OP bro comparing a professional service to a full fletched business house. Next he will compare his rich doctor neighbor to Bill Gates. B schools, Tech schools, law schools and medical schools produce different categories of people and impart different skillsets. You compare IIM by the number of entrepreneurs or businessmen not a fucking law school. Stupid comparisons like how many Fortune 500 CEOs has your law school produced is as dumb as asking how many CEOs has AIIMS Delhi produced. It's not even apples and oranges it is like razor blade and snowfall..like there is no comparison..what are you even trying to say?
Legal profession anywhere is underpaid compared to finance, banking, fund management or running a successful unicorn.

But nobody becomes a lawyer with the aim of becoming a billionaire. Lawyers may not make billions but they can certainly make multi millions which is way above what an average Tom, Dick or Harry can earn in their lifetime.

People become lawyers mainly for intellectual passion and money also follows the deserving ones.
Lawyers are professionals, unlike any businessman. Business is for generations, hardwork of one generation will play a significant role in development of the family / society. Business is about consolidating the existing market share.

Eg - After retirement, you may not know anything about Harish Salve's practice or firm. However, Zerodha would be controlled by any family member of Kamath family, they will add on to the business revenue. Salve's revenue/fees will stop as soon as he retires.
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