Know Why Mumbai University Alumni are Richer than the IITians

In a recent census of the billionaires of the world by the Singapore-based research firm Wealth-X and Swiss bank UBS, it was found that University of Mumbai has yielded than any other educational institution outside the United States. As many as 12 billionaires were Mumbai University alumni, placing it at Rank #9 in the list – ahead of the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science and the Columbia University. If we take into account only undergraduate alumni who turned into billionaires, Mumbai University was placed ahead of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) too.

Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) did not come even a close second. In fact, no other Indian Universities made it to the list of Top 20 billionaire producing universities. Many people wonder how Mumbai University has been able to race ahead of IITs, which has one of the toughest entrance exams of the world and are known as a hub for geniuses. But don’t be too quick to discount the power of ‘Geniuses’. Here are the inherent advantages that Mumbai University alumni had over the IITians:

• Mumbai is the financial hub of India. Billionaires who studied in the University of Mumbai include India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and his brother Anil Ambani of the Reliance Group who at least inherited a part of their wealth from the family, Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Birla Group and Ajay Piramal of the Piramal Group. They were millionaires and had access to bountiful family resources even before they joined their family business.

• On the other hand, billionaires from IITs include N R Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani of Infosys and Bharat Desai of Syntel did not start out as millionaires. They started their own ventures and built them up well in a relatively short period of time. Ravi Sinha, Head of Alumni Relations at IIT Bombay claims, “In my opinion, if we count those billionaires only who have earned their money without family blessings, IIT Bombay alumni will shine on the list.”
• Also note that there are more than 700 colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai and more 2 lakh students are enrolled in its various courses. All the 16 IITs together have only about 10,000 students. So, the numbers are on the side of Mumbai University.

The rich heritage of Mumbai and the kind of old money it has naturally means that many rich kids get enrolled there. Those who come from affluent backgrounds have an advantage over other students and hence, it should not be a surprise that Mumbai University has some of the most successful alumni. But achievements of IITians cannot be discounted for setting up new businesses, carving their own pathways and contributing significantly in wealth creation for India.