From joke to 50X jackpot: American billionaire's simple ‘India-born CEO’ stock-picking idea would have made you a millionaire in 15 years

Though initially made in jest, the idea has now become the centre of a viral conversation after new analysis suggested such a strategy may have delivered extraordinary returns over the past decade and a half. Milken, one of the most influential figures in modern finance, built a reputation for reshaping capital markets and expanding access to funding for companies outside traditional financial circles. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, he later earned an MBA from the Wharton School. Over the years, he became known not only for his work in finance but also for philanthropy, particularly through the Milken Family Foundation, which he co-founded in 1982 to support education reform, teacher recognition and medical research. The renewed interest in Milken’s observation began after Indian-origin tech entrepreneur Deedy Das, shared a post on social media platform X discussing the billionaire’s offhand investing theory. Deedy Das is a partner at Menlo Ventures which invests in AI, Saas and Infra startups. Curious about whether the idea actually held up over time, Das and his team attempted to test it using historical stock market data. According to the analysis shared online, companies run by Indian-born chief executives significantly outperformed the broader American stock market over the last 15 years. Das claimed that an investor following Milken’s tongue-in-cheek rule would have multiplied their money dramatically, generating returns far ahead of the benchmark S&P 500. Over the past 15 years, an investor following this strategy would have reportedly seen their investment grow nearly 50-fold, far outpacing the broader market. According to the analysis, the returns would have been several times higher than those generated by the benchmark S&P 500, with annualised gains estimated to be more than double that of the index. He suggested the hypothetical portfolio would have achieved much stronger annualised performance compared with the broader index, fuelling widespread fascination with the rise of Indian-origin corporate leaders in the US. The claim quickly gained traction online, attracting millions of views and sparking debate about the influence of Indian-born executives in some of America’s largest companies, particularly in the technology sector. However, Das later offered an important clarification to temper the excitement surrounding the findings. He pointed out that the results did not necessarily prove that Indian-born CEOs directly caused superior stock performance. Instead, he suggested the trend may reflect broader market dynamics, especially the dominance of technology companies over the past 15 years. Since Indian-origin executives are disproportionately represented in tech firms — a sector that has dramatically outperformed much of the market — the correlation may have more to do with industry concentration than executive nationality. (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online. (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.