Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian billionaire, industrialist, philanthropist, and the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG).
Born to a business family in Kolkata in 1967, Birla grew up in Mumbai. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Mumbai, he went to the London Business School. His family constitutes the Marwari Birla family, and he is stated to have a place in the province of Rajasthan.
All along, he inherited excellent skills and abilities that turned him into a well-established and well-known entrepreneur. His estimated net worth is about $17.5 billion.
In 2020, the ABG contributed Rs 500 crore towards COVID relief measures, which included a contribution of Rs 400 crore to the PM-CARES fund.
KM Birla has also made a 15 million pound endowed grant programme to back 10 full-time MBA candidates every year at the London Business School. The BK Birla Scholars Program is named after Birla’s late grandfather, Basant Kumar Birla. This programme is the highest endowed scholarship gift to a European business college.
Birla has received several awards, including the Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award from The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) based out of the Silicon Valley in 2021.
Here are ten inspiring quotes from the 54-year-old industrialist that will inspire young-entrepreneurs to stay motivated.
“We all fail. We all make mistakes. The key is to not be oblivious to the mistake. When you make a mistake, you have three choices — You can be in denial, you can let it cripple you, or you can acknowledge the error, take swift corrective action, and learn from it.”
“The one important factor that keeps me going is the kind of people I work with.”
“The golden rule I can think of is that you must follow your passion and do something that’s close to your heart.”
“Failure is not fatal, it’s inevitable. If you don’t fail, it perhaps means you aren’t taking enough risks.”
“If you cannot collaborate, you cannot succeed. The joy of accomplishing something as a team is far greater than any individual achievement.”
“It’s not a good idea to always look for new frontiers, especially when you have opportunities in your existing businesses, in your backyard.”
“Individual brilliance can only take you so far. From business to any other field of activity, teamwork is the key to success.”
“The young generation is willing to experiment more. Firstly, they are less motivated by money and compensation, unlike the previous two generations. Secondly, integrity and governance are very important issues for them.”
“Only when emotion is involved do you get angry and lose your temper. You could have different points of view, but as long as it is constructive dissent, it is fun.”
“The work environment is very important in determining how enjoyable work is. It is very important to work with smart guys who have a superior level of intellectual bandwidth and still have softer skills.”
