'If my son performs, he may have an opportunity to head Kotak Mahindra Bank': Uday Kotak

At India Today Conclave Mumbai 2023, Uday Kotak, who recently stepped down from his position as the MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, weighed on the question whether his son Jay will head the private bank or not. 

When asked if he desires to see his son to run the bank one day, Uday Kotak said on Wednesday that it would solely depend on his son's professional merit. “It is for the bank and the board to decide about the future of his son ,” said the founder and director of Kotak Bank.

Jay Kotak, who joined the Mumbai-headquartered bank seven years ago, currently serves as the Vice President and co-head of Kotak Mahindra Bank's digital banking solution Kotak811. “In today’s times, the kids have a mind of their own.”

“He decided to come back (from abroad) and work in the bank like any other professional and it is up to him. If he performs, he may have an opportunity,” said Kotak.

Currently, two whole-time directors, Shanti Ekambaram and KVS Manian, are the leading candidates to succeed Kotak as MD & CEO, starting in January this year. The new MD & CEO will easily have 10 years to run the bank.

Currently, Dipak Gupta, the former joint MD, has assumed the role of MD & CEO for a four-month interim period until December.

Kotak has transitioned from the role of MD & CEO to a non-executive position on September 1, after two decades of nurturing the institution.

RBI's regulations on ownership and tenure limits for the post of MD & CEO at private banks have affected the ambitions of 64-year-old Kotak, who desired to hold a larger stake and extend his tenure until the age of 70. Currently, the Kotak family holds a 26 per cent stake in the bank.

Kotak, who embarked on his entrepreneurial journey with bill discounting in 1985, has generated enormous wealth for the shareholders in the financial services business from lending, mutual fund, insurance, broking, investment banking and private equity.

The Kotak Group, with total assets of Rs 6.2 lakh crore, including the bank's assets of Rs 4.89 lakh crore, boasts the fourth largest market capitalisation among banks, following HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI, with an m-cap of Rs 3.5 lakh crore.

Before retiring, Uday Kotak had already initiated a strategy to transform the bank into a technology-savvy institution, similar to Amazon in terms of customer excellence. In the banking industry, products are primarily distinguished by processes and services, and since all banks employ technology for faster processing, there is little differentiation. Nevertheless, the bank has set a goal to provide an Amazon-like customer experience.