Nice list, Ingrid. I would add Rata Tata to this list. I had one, very brief interaction with him at an event for bankers that we had organized. His office said that he will attend but he does not wish to be a speaker and he wants to listen in on the discussions. He came quietly without any fanfare and took a seat and listened attentively. A man who could have taken a masterclass on running large enterprises had the humility to listen. These are two qualities that I find hugely lacking today -- humility and the ability to listen.
The contrast with a new gen bank CEO who was to speak at this event was just stark. We had sent invites to this CEO months in advance, followed up and confirmed his participation and this brat emailed us on the morning of the event saying that he had forgotten to book his tickets! We were so disgusted that we did not even reply to him. @John Sundman: Interesting anecdote on Goldman. Sometimes, people talk the talk but forget to walk the walk. I have seen this in the mutual fund industry where so-called "value investors" forget their own principles and lead their mutual funds into bad investments. @Sankarshan: I agree 100% with you, when you say, "We engineered institutions, markets, and leadership pipelines that treat EQ as a soft nice-to-have while structurally rewarding its absence. The uncomfortable implication is that what we call leadership failure may actually be system success." Also agree with these words, "Maybe the deeper challenge is not cultivating more EQ in individuals, but rebuilding environments where EQ is not optional for legitimacy." Where I was coming from is that I use this typical 4x4 matrix where I quickly classify people on the IQ and EQ Axis as a filtration mechanism. To clarify, I use EQ to represent kindness, compassion, listening ability and a human touch. This is perhaps not the classical Goleman type of definition, but one that works for me in daily life. Over the last few years, I have ruthlessly kept the High IQ/Low EQ folks (which includes megalomaniacs, psychopaths and all sorts of unsavoury characters) at arm's length, while prioritizing my relationships with High IQ/High EQ folks. I am a much happier person for that. On a related note, this post I wrote on the lost art of listening might be of some use https://www.facebook.com/513762461/posts/10161947841102462/?app=fbl Venky On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 10:29 AM Ingrid Srinath via Silklist < [email protected]> wrote: > Some other names that come to mind: > Chuck Feeney > Warren Buffet > Abigail Disney > Mackenzie Scott > Azim Premji > Vikram Lal > Jamshyd Godrej > Shiv Nadar > Kumaramangalam Birla > Sigrid Rausing > Marlene Engelhorn > Aga Khan IV > > Kind regards, > > > Ingrid Srinath > > > > On 5 Feb 2026, at 23:56, Christopher A Kantarjiev via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > On 2/5/26 3:55 AM, Ra Jesh via Silklist wrote: > >> As a flip question: > >> > >> Who are exemplars of people with extreme wealth who still maintain a > high degree of humanity? > >> > > Laurene Powell Jobs springs immediately to mind. > > > > -- > > Silklist mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >
-- Silklist mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
