Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath found himself in an uncomfortable position at Columbia Business School recently when a student asked him to explain why he was speaking at a business school if he believed an MBA was a waste of time. His answer reframed the entire debate around what a top business degree is actually worth.
Kamath had earlier made headlines by stating during an 'Ask Me Anything' session that "if you're a 25-year-old going for an MBA, you must be some kind of idiot," elaborating that traditional colleges are becoming obsolete and that a shift toward entrepreneurship over conventional careers was imminent.
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Those remarks had already drawn strong reactions online, and the Columbia interaction brought the conversation to a head.
The student, named Anaheez Patel, who asked the question to Kamath, posted the video of the exchange on Instagram as well, to which Kamath reacted too.
In the video, during the session at Columbia, Anaheez was seen confronting Kamath over his earlier comment, asking why he chose to speak at a business school if he believed MBA programmes lacked value. Kamath could be seen responding to him.
Pointing out that with an MBA costing around $300,000, a room of around 500 students collectively represents an investment of over $90 million, Kamath said that being in such a setting allows him to meet what he called the "rich kids of India of tomorrow", implying that this access has future worth, which is precisely why he chose to attend. The statement reframed the MBA not as a return on investment in education, but as a return on access to people. It is a distinction that education experts find worth examining.
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The Columbia exchange has become one of the more talked-about business education debates of 2026, with professionals and students divided over whether experience or formal education matters more in today's economy.
What Kamath's remarks have done, intentionally or not, is expose a quiet shift already underway in how people justify the cost of elite business education — less about what is learned in the classroom, and more about who happens to be sitting in it.
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