Sridhar Vembu says money should not rule world, businesses must support doctors and teachers

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu believes that money alone cannot drive the world. Instead, it is important for companies to support the professions of teachers, priests and farmers. Vembu says that he stands by his comments even if people may accuse him of being an anti-capitalist. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu believes companies must support teachers and doctors.Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has shared his view of the global economy. He suggests that not all professions can be driven by profit, particularly those of teachers, farmers or priests. Vembu claims that it is the responsibility of the “market” and profit-driven companies to sustain such professions, even if he gets called an anti-capitalist.In his original post, Vembu asked, "Do we want our farmers, teachers, doctors and priests to be profit-driven?" He claimed that such a mindset would lead to a dystopia, "Modern finance and economic theory encourages essentially all human activity to be profit-driven. This leads to a dystopian world,” he added.Sridhar Vembu insisted that it came down on companies like Zoho to help sustain these professions that form the “bedrock” of human civilisation. “The entire purpose of profit is to sustain this bedrock, which I categorise into nature (food and spirit), nurture (teaching and spirit), culture (entertainment and spirit), scripture (spirit),” he said. Vembu believes businesses should support professionals like teachers and farmers. No farmer or teacher works for money, Vembu saysSridhar Vembu defended his views on X where he replied to his original post. The Zoho chief claimed that there were no farmers who were farming for money. “Ask a farmer who made a choice to be in farming and they would tell you it is their love of farming. They would never mention money,” he wrote. “In fact, farmers reluctantly abandon farming when they can no longer afford it.” Vembu went further, drawing a similar comparison for doctors who stand by their ethical code to care for patients first. “People who become doctors for money are not respected by other doctors,” he added. The Zoho founder argued that the same case applied to teachers and priests too. Sridhar Vembu explained his perspective on X. However, Sridhar Vembu pointed out that going by economic models, “all of that behaviour is irrational.” That is, no one should be working without focusing on money, but these professions remain integral to human society. “Yet without that deeply evolved character trait in humanity, civilisation itself would collapse,” he noted. The Zoho chief claimed that following his original comments, he had received pushback online, with some even calling him an anti-capitalist. He wrote, “When I say people like me in business should support these noble professions, I must be an anti-capitalist - say people who haven't earned a single rupee of honest profit and don't know what "capital" even means (no it is not a line item in a spreadsheet)!”Sridhar Vembu claims ideals die in a finance dominated worldSome users on X questioned Vembu’s views. One user pointed out that there were cases where private equity hospitals earn big sums or scams being done in the name of spirituality. The person wrote, “As much as we wish otherwise, greed and fear drives the world.”Sridhar Vembu responded to this comment. He claimed that the world could not let private equity enjoy unlimited influence. “Idealism is not naive. Civilisation itself is an ideal we cannot allow to be destroyed by the barbarians at the gate wielding private equity,” he said. Sridhar Vembu replied to a comment on X, explaining that ideals were important for civilisation. The Zoho chief reckoned that in a world dominated by finance, there may be no place left for ideals. “A finance dominated world is a world where ideals go to die,” Vembu added. “That is why ancients, from every spiritual tradition, looked down on making money on money endlessly.”- EndsPublished By: Armaan AgarwalPublished On: Aug 31, 2026 12:54 IST