Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Suhasini Sampath recently chatted with influencer Sharan Hegde about money matters. During her appearance on The 1% Club Show podcast, she spoke about selling her company, her real estate investments and more. Sampath is the founder of Yoga Bar, an energy bar brand that she launched in 2014 along with her sister Anindita Sampath. Last year, she sold 39% stake in her company to ITC. The FMCG giant will acquire 100% of the startup over the next three years at a valuation of ₹500 Crores.
Sampath surprised viewers by revealing that although she owns two properties, she does not live in either of them. Instead, she lives in rented accommodation in Bengaluru.
When Sharan Hegde asked her how she manages her real estate investments, Sampath replied, “I am a chartered accountant, right? So there are a few… for example, if you own two houses, you can set off an amount as capital gains by buying up to two houses.”
When asked if she bought two houses to save on taxes, Suhasini Sampath dodged the question by saying that although she owns two properties, she does not live in either of them. “I do not live in any of the houses. I live in a rented house,” she revealed. She also confirmed that the two houses she owns are rented out.
You can watch the entire exchange below:
“Um, so she has 500 crore and still rents the house?” asked one person in the YouTube comments section. “I understand wealth and all that points but at the end of the day, money enables you to do something. If you don’t spend it even though you have so much of it and still worry about investing, then what’s the point?”
“Okay, she’s renting, but at least she has her houses, and even if she doesn’t have one, she can always buy one in the future. But no middle-class person can afford a house in the future with rising inflation,” said another person.
However, with his decision to live in rented accommodation, the Yoga Bar founder is in good company. Zerodha billionaire Nikhil Kamath also lives in a house that he does not own. “I could not bring myself to buy properties at today’s valuations because I personally think they are ridiculous and idiotic at current interest rates. There is no point in increasing the prices of houses and offices,” Kamath had said in September 2023 on CNBC TV-18’s “I Did it My Way” podcast.
Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, also pays ₹1.5 lakh rent for his flat in Gurgaon. “If I were to buy this flat and I had to borrow, say, 70 percent of it, ₹6 crore loan would be ₹6-7 lakh per month as EMI, which is about four times my rental cost. So, I live in a house which costs a quarter of the EMI cost. So, there is no point in buying it,” he explained.
