Why Did Rana Kapoor Fail?
'Diamonds Are Forever' — Loans Weren't
📜 What Happened
Yes Bank's swaggering co-founder famously tweeted his shares were his 'diamonds' — he'd never sell. The bank's growth secret: aggressive loans to exactly the borrowers other banks refused (IL&FS, DHFL, Anil Ambani companies, Café Coffee Day) — booking fees upfront while the risk compounded. RBI forced him out; bad loans surfaced in tens of thousands of crores; depositors faced frozen withdrawals in 2020's rescue. Kapoor was arrested — the diamonds, sold under distress, had financed the very hole.
☠️ The Fatal Mistake
Growth by adverse selection: being the lender of last resort to India's riskiest borrowers, while personally monetizing the fees the risk generated.
🧠 The Lesson (Free for You)
In lending, the customers easiest to win are the ones everyone else correctly rejected. Revenue that books today with risk that lands tomorrow isn't banking — it's a countdown.
📕 The Antidote Book
Graham — Buffett's teacher and the father of security analysis — built the intellectual foundation of rational investing on a handful of unbreakable ideas: an INVESTMENT operation promises safety of principal and…
📖 OPEN THE FULL INTERACTIVE BREAKDOWN →Searchable, filterable, free to read — they paid billions; your lesson is free.