Thread by @stockifi_Invest

A Mega-Thread on one of the greatest self-made success stories of our country and the man behind the making of a multi-billion-dollar bank:
@udaykotak
Would appreciate a Retweet as it helps us educate more investors.👇🧵

1)Uday Kotak was born on 15 March 1959 to an upper-middle-class Gujarati Lohana joint-family in Mumbai. His family had moved from Karachi, Pakistan to India during the partition and had set up a cotton trading business.

2)His family followed a joint family system and so Uday grew up in a household of 60 members sharing a common kitchen under one roof. Today the billionaire looks back and calls this “Capitalism at work and Socialism at home”.

3)Uday always had a knack for mathematics, and this led him into the banking career.

4)He went on to receive a bachelor’s in commerce from Sydenham College.

5) He also pursued a postgraduate degree in management studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

6)Uday spent most of his childhood cricketing and learning the sitar. His love for cricket took precedence over maths and he dreamt of going pro.

7) He did not only dream it like many but also tried to pursue it. During his childhood, he captained his school and college teams.

8)He even went on to play the Kanga Cricket League (named after Hormasji Kanga, who played 43 First-class matches) in Mumbai.

9) Uday Kotak played as a left-hand spinner and a right-hand batsman.

10)Kotak’s cricketing career came to an end when he got hit on the head while running between the wickets while playing the Kanga League at Azad Maidan.

11)This further led to complications and Kotak needed to undergo an operation to avoid a brain hemorrhage.

12)After completing his MBA, Uday had received an offer from Hindustan Unilever, a multinational FMCG company. Although Uday was all set to join the MNC his father made him rethink his decision. He convinced Uday to set up his own business in a 300 sq. ft office space.

13)He started Kotak Capital Management Finance Ltd his financial agency at the age of 23.

14)In 1986 Kotak received investment from Anand Mahindra and renamed the business to Kotak Mahindra.

15)Uday noticed that during the 80s, Nelco a Tata company would borrow its working capital requirements from banks at an interest rate of 17%. At the same time, he also noticed that his friends would part their money in banks that would only provide a 6% return.

16)Uday saw the opportunity here and offered his friends twice the returns offered by banks i.e., 12% if they were willing to lend to Nelco. The company, being owned by Tata was an added advantage to its security.

17)Uday took these funds and went on to offer Nelco at a 16% rate of interest. With a successful deal, Uday made 4% with little to no investment.

18)He kept searching the markets for other opportunities. He observed that car buyers had to buy cars through means of cash.

19) Even banks then charged their customers an interest rate of 13%. Uday Kotak too began offering car loans at a 13% interest rate.

20)Uday observed that people buying the Maruti a popular vehicle in the 80s would often have a 6 month wait period.

21)Uday took advantage of this and booked 5,000 Maruti cars in advance, a very risky bet. He then offered these to his prospective clients. His bet paid off as car buyers preferred to receive the car at the time of purchase.

22)In 1995 Kotak entered the distribution and brokerage business. He kept doing this and, in a few years, Kotak Mahindra was now involved in investment banking, bill discounting, stockbroking, life insurance, car finance, and mutual funds.

23)In 2003 Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. received a banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Kotak Mahindra was the only non-banking finance company to receive a banking license from the RBI in 2003.

24)In 2006 he ended a 14-year partnership with Goldman Sachs by acquiring its 25% stake in two subsidiaries for $72 million.

25)In 2007, the Kotak group was the only survivor among the finance companies that started up in the 1980s, has grown into a complete financial services business, offering insurance, broking, mutual funds, banking, and other services.

26)During 2014, Kotak almost doubled his wealth as shares of his Kotak Mahindra Bank hit an all-time high after he sealed a $2.4 billion deal in November 2014 for rival ING Vysya Bank, partly owned by Dutch financial services group ING.

27)What Uday Kotak had started off in a 300 square feet office was already the 2nd largest scheduled commercial bank in India by market capitalization with more than 1270 branches.

28)In 2015, Kotak enters the general insurance business and is partnering with telecom magnate Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel to start a small payments bank.

29)In August 2019 he was one of the highest-paid CEOs of any Indian bank with a monthly salary of ₹27 lakh (US$38,000).

30)Uday Kotak's story could easily be one of the greatest self-made success stories of our country. His net worth today: $14.8 billion

31) He is currently the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Chairman of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services.

32)Uday Kotak is also a committee member of the Primary Market Advisory High-level Committee of the SEBI.

33)What once started as a simple company with 3 members that lent and borrowed money has now turned into a group with more than 5,000 employees.

34) Group consisting of companies including Kotak Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Kotak Mahindra mutual funds, Kotak Mahindra Investments, Kotak Mahindra Prime, Kotak Mahindra general insurance, Kotak investment advisors, and Kotak AMC.

35)His story is a true example of “everything happens for a reason”.

36) Had he not met with the accident and been operated on, he would have grown up to become a cricketer, and maybe the country would have been devoid of the revolution that he and his companies have created.