Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath recently opened up about why he does not feel strongly about having children to continue his "legacy". In his podcast, WTF, the 37-year-old billionaire said that he does not want to spend two decades of his life "babysitting" only to hope that his children treat him well when he gets old.
"This is also partly why I don't have kids," Kamath said. "I'm going to ruin 18-20 years of my life babysitting this child and then if luck serves me right, the reverse will happen at some point. What if he says 'scr** you' at 18 and leaves anyway."
When asked about leaving behind his legacy, Kamath shared that he does not believe in the notion. "I think we all feel that we are more important than we actually are... you are born and you die like every other animal on the planet and then you are gone and nobody remembers anybody," he said.
Nikhil Kamath also said that it's vanity to have kids only to be remembered after death. "What's the point in being remembered (after death)? I feel like you should come, you should live well, you should be nice to the people you meet in your life," he said.
The Zerodha co-founder also does not believe in hoarding wealth for future generations. Last year, Kamath became the youngest Indian to join the 'The Giving Pledge' after he pledged a majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes. He said that he was inspired by Bengaluru-based entrepreneurs and fellow pledgers Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Wipro founder Azim Premji.
“So, there are four people in India who have signed The Giving Pledge -- the other three happen to be really good friends of mine. And Bangaloreans will resonate with this -- all of them are from Bangalore. All four of us are friends. Me and Kiran live in the same apartment… we all tend to meet once in a month for dinner or travel together,” Business Today quoted Kamath as saying.
On being asked why he chose to give away his wealth and not save it for his future generations, the Zerodha co-founder said that being in Bengaluru and around other signatories of The Giving Pledge inspired him to make the most of the money he has made. Kamath added that he would rather spend money on causes he believes in than leave it in banks.
“I think everybody should realise the importance and understand the concept of mortality... I am 37 and if the average lifespan of an Indian is 72 years old, I have 35 years left. There is no value in leaving money in the banks… so I would rather give it to things I believe in. So rather than leaving the money I have earned in the last 20 years and what I would earn in the next 20 years to a bank or institution like that… I would rather make the most of it," Kamath said.
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