2 days ago
Sridhar Vembu urges profit-free purpose for essential professions
Sridhar Vembu is a business leader who thinks some important jobs should be about more than money.
He named farmers, teachers, doctors and priests.
He said many people choose these jobs because they care about helping others or doing the work well.
He believes doctors should put patients first and teachers should not choose the job because it pays well.
He also said farmers may leave farming when they can no longer afford to continue.
Vembu thinks modern economic ideas can make every activity seem like a way to earn money.
He said businesses should make profits so they can support the parts of society that are not mainly about money.
Some people call this an anti-capitalist idea, but Vembu disagreed.
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu argued that farmers, teachers, doctors and priests should not be driven primarily by profit.
In X posts on August 30 and 31, 2026, he said modern finance encourages nearly all human activity to become profit-driven.
Vembu described farming, teaching, medicine and priesthood as foundational professions sustained by commitment, ethics and culture.
He said businesses should use profits to support civilization’s non-market “bedrock” of spirituality, culture and human values.
Vembu rejected criticism that his position makes him anti-capitalist, saying business profits should sustain these essential vocations.
- Who
- Sridhar Vembu, founder and chief scientist of Zoho.
- What
- He argued that farming, teaching, medicine and priesthood should not be primarily profit-driven, and that businesses should support these professions.
- Where
- The posts were made on X; the article identifies Vembu with Zoho and says he lives in Mathalamparai village, Tamil Nadu.
- When
- He made the argument in X posts dated August 30 and 31, 2026.
- Why
- He said modern finance and economic theory encourage all human activity to be profit-driven, threatening the cultural, spiritual and social foundations of civilization.
Vembu’s view
Critics’ view
Whether essential professions should be profit-driven
Vembu’s view
Vembu said farmers, teachers, doctors and priests are generally motivated by commitment, professional ethics and service, not primarily by money.
Critics’ view
Critics cited by Vembu characterized his argument as anti-capitalist, implying that it conflicts with profit-oriented economic thinking.
The role of business profits
Vembu’s view
Vembu said companies should generate profits to support the non-market foundations of civilization, including spirituality, culture and human values.
Critics’ view
The article does not provide a detailed response from critics beyond their characterization of Vembu as anti-capitalist.
Key facts
- Speaker
- Sridhar Vembu, Zoho founder and chief scientist
- Professions named
- Farming, teaching, medicine and priesthood
- Posts
- Two X posts dated August 30 and 31, 2026
- Core argument
- These professions should be guided by commitment, ethics and service rather than profit alone
- Role of business
- Vembu said profits should help sustain civilization’s non-market foundations
- Zoho
- A company that makes business software
- Estimated wealth
- Forbes estimated Vembu and his siblings’ combined net worth at $6 billion in its 2025 India rich list
Quotes
Sridhar Vembu
Zoho founder and chief scientist
“That raises the question: who supports that bedrock? The ones who are in the ‘market’, companies like us… the entire purpose of profit is to sustain this bedrock”
theprint.in
“Ask a farmer who made a choice to be in farming and they would tell you it is their love of farming”
theprint.in
Sources
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