Sanjiv Goenka feels profit, not just emotion, should guide business investments

"The way I see it, my business can be defined into two categories: one was what I inherited and the other is what I have done with the inheritance,” Goenka said.

BCCL
As per the report, Goenka is at rank 45 in the India rich list for 2019, and his wealth is pegged at Rs 18,600 crore.
Kolkata-based businessman Sanjiv Goenka who heads the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group featured in the 2019 IIFL Wealth - Hurun India Rich List. CESC (a power utility business), Philips Carbon Black (a carbon black manufacturer) and Spencer’s Retail (a hypermarket retailer chain) are some of the largest companies in his group.

As per the report, Goenka is at rank 45 in the India rich list for 2019, and his wealth is pegged at Rs 18,600 crore. When the Hurun report interviewed Goenka following this feature, they opened with an interesting question: does he have a personal favourite business from among all the diversified businesses that he is involved in? It’s a bit like asking who’s your favourite child, but Goenka had a response ready.

“I don’t think one enters a business because one loves it. You enter a business because you believe you will make profits in the business. If you happen to love the business that you invest in, then that’s a bonus. However that cannot be the reason for you to invest. Emotion cannot be the only reason why you invest in something. It has to be for commerce. It has to be for profit. It has to be for returns.


"The way I see it, my business can be defined into two categories: one was what I inherited and the other is what I have done with the inheritance,” Goenka said in the interview.

He added further, “What we inherited was a legacy. What we did with it, was made it efficient; make it efficient enough to lead their respective sectors. It has been a journey of reinvention towards excellence.”

Harsh Goenka, Ambareesh Murty Reveal Their Social Media Muses
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Top bosses reveal one account they always make sure to include in their daily social media feed.

In pic: Harsh Goenka (L), Ambareesh Murty (R)

Top bosses reveal one account they always make sure to include in their daily social media feed.In pic: Harsh Goenka (L), Ambareesh Murty (R)

“There are two people I enjoy following: one is my good friend Anand Mahindra and the other is from Salesforce — Vala Afshar. He gives you very interesting insights not only about human life but about technology and future trends.”

“There are two people I enjoy following: one is my good friend Anand Mahindra and the other is from Salesforce — Vala Afshar. He gives you very interesting insights not only about human life but abou..
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“There are a few I follow who I think are funny or who say funny things, like Elon Musk. In terms of inspirational, I’d have to say Naval Ravikant. He manages to write even the hard stuff in a simple way that you can easily understand.”

“There are a few I follow who I think are funny or who say funny things, like Elon Musk. In terms of inspirational, I’d have to say Naval Ravikant. He manages to write even the hard stuff in a simple..
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“It’s not a person but an entity called QIL. It’s based on a BBC quiz show I used to watch called QI [run by Stephen Fry] and they tweet some really interesting stuff each day. If you look at my timeline, you’ll see I retweet a few of their tweets. Recently, they had tweeted a quote from Stephen Hawking, which said that even those who believe in destiny, look before they cross the road. I thought that was a very quantum observation, so I retweeted it.”

“It’s not a person but an entity called QIL. It’s based on a BBC quiz show I used to watch called QI [run by Stephen Fry] and they tweet some really interesting stuff each day. If you look at my time..
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“Naval Ravikant is a very wellknown thought leader in the Bay Area. He’s someone I follow for pearls of wisdom every now and then.”

“Naval Ravikant is a very wellknown thought leader in the Bay Area. He’s someone I follow for pearls of wisdom every now and then.”

“I don’t really check anyone’s account. I just see what comes on my feed. I check it almost every day, but don’t specifically look for somebody. However, two people that I always look to for a it of humour, news and information are Harsh Goenka and Anand Mahindra.”

“I don’t really check anyone’s account. I just see what comes on my feed. I check it almost every day, but don’t specifically look for somebody. However, two people that I always look to for a it of ..
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“I follow a couple of people regularly for different perspectives — Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a country perspective; for Indian corporates, I follow Anand Mahindra and for global, Sundar Pichai. Occasionally, I also follow Virat Kohli and a few others.”

“I follow a couple of people regularly for different perspectives — Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a country perspective; for Indian corporates, I follow Anand Mahindra and for global, Sundar Picha..
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