‘True freedom’: Zerodha CEO shares lessons he learned from father-in-law who runs grocery store

Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath, who is a frequent Twitter user, shared a unique picture with his father-in-law in his small kirana shop, saying he taught the billionaire CEO several important life lessons. Talking about his father-in-law, who can be seen in his shop along with Kamath and a young boy, the billionaire CEO in a series of tweets said his father-in-law, Shivaji Patil, fully embodies the saying "being content is the only way to true freedom".

He said Patil took voluntary retirement from the Indian Army as a havaldar after he lost his fingers to frostbite during the Kargil War, following which he started a "grocery shop".

Patil, said Kamath, is 70 years old but goes to the local market regularly on his decades-old scooter for the specially-abled to buy groceries for the shop. "His only help is my mother-in-law, who helps him run the shop and manages the house," said Kamath.

The Zerodha CEO revealed his father-in-law "refuses to stop working" even at the age of 70 and even with the success Kamath's wife Seema and he had. "When I ask him about margins for various products in the shop, there is still a twinkle in his eye. He speaks about a 25% margin on chikkis, buying a box at Rs 200 & selling them individually for Rs 250," said Kamath.

According to Kamath, he never saw his father-in-law "wanting something or complaining, not even about losing his fingers in the war". However, he quipped, saying "Although, he did try to convince me to get a government job when I asked him permission to marry his daughter in 2007 when I was still struggling".

Kamath said he has been geeking out about increasing healthspan or how to live a good life until the end. "I have no doubt that the answer is to be content and never stop being active mentally and physically. Money can't buy this, and he is the best example."

Kamath leads India's largest online broking firm, Zerodha, which 86.6% jump in its profit to ₹2,094 crore in FY22, while its revenue jumped 81.9% to ₹4,963 crore.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of India's largest online stock brokerage recently shared an incident via Twitter, in which he explained how one of his friends lost ₹5 lakh to online scamsters tricking people by offering fake part-time job opportunities.

The scamsters encouraged the victim to invest money in fake crypto products, which appeared real in all aspects. The Zerodha CEO said the account of the fraudsters seemed like a "real crypto account, with account balance, ledger, P&L, etc". However, everything was fake and manipulated, including the Telegram group. Moreover, the crypto price movements were also manipulated to generate profits and sow greed at the start.

The billionaire CEO narrated a personal incident in which his friend (name not mentioned) was initially offered a part-time job via WhatsApp. The first few tasks were about leaving fake reviews for resorts & restaurants in random places like Peru, said Kamath, following which the person received ₹30,000 as payment for completing the given task. Later, the victim was duped of ₹5 lakh as the scamsters gained the person’s trust and coerced the victim to invest in “fake” crypto products.