Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, said that he has lost his cool 18 times in 29 years. Birla was speaking to Nikhil Kamath on Episode 5 of the ‘People by WTF’ show, hosted by the billionaire, the trailer of which was released on Friday. The episode is yet to be released.
Nikhil Kamath can be seen asking Birla: “I have read somewhere or someone said that you never lose your cool.”
To this, Birla said, “I have lost it 18 times in 29 years. To me, it is a black mark, especially at work.”
Kamath said that he watched all of Birla’s interviews across the years leading up to the interview, and remarked that there are “very few” of them available. He said that he watched his interview from 26 years ago, to which Birla pat said, “Simi Garewal”, in reference to her television talk-show, ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’ that was aired from 1997 to 2009.
Birla can also be seen turning the tables on Nikhil Kamath in the interview and asking him where he would invest if he had Rs 10 crore.
Separately, Birla, speaking at the silver jubilee of the Aditya Birla Scholarships programme in Mumbai, last month said that the conglomerate is the largest Indian investor in the United States, with investments exceeding $15 billion and manufacturing operations in 20 locations across 15 states. He expressed further interest in investing in the US.
Birla remarked that India today is confident, dreams big, and plays a significant role in the global narrative, often being a pioneer.