Musings of a dreamer: If I earned Rs 48 crore in a day!

The author’s imagination takes a delightful detour, only to find that his indulgent daydream was short-lived

By P Nagarjuna Rao

When news broke that Jagdeep Singh, former CEO of QuantumScape, earned a mind-boggling Rs 48 crore per day — enough to make the combined riches of kings and business tycoons look tame — my imagination took a delightful detour. For a moment, I let myself believe I was the man of the hour. What would I do with Rs 48 crore every single day? That’s Rs 17,520 crore per annum!

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Lavish parties, of course! My friends wouldn’t just gather for food and banter. There would be private concerts by AR Rahman or Devisri Prasad and endless spreads of delicacies from around the world served on gold-edged plates. Mansions would dot every holiday destination — a beach house on Palm Jumeirah, a floor on Burj Khalifa with the best view of Dubai, a mountain chalet in the Alps, and perhaps a palatial farmhouse just outside Hyderabad.

Ivy League dreams
I wouldn’t need to budget for my younger son’s wedding. Destination extravaganzas with elephants, drones, and celebrity performances would be mere trifles. And my darling granddaughter would get the best education money could buy — a reserved seat at Harvard or Stanford, where she would walk among future presidents and tech wizards.

Generous donations

Then, there’s philanthropy. I have always admired those who give back, and with Rs 48 crore a day income, I would become the benefactor of temples, sponsor cutting-edge hospitals, and fund scholarships for students from underprivileged backgrounds. The name ‘PN Rao Foundation’ would be etched in marble across institutions dedicated to science and art, just because I could.

Blockbuster earnings

For a whimsical moment, I compared my imaginary fortune to James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which made Rs 48 crore ($5.6 million) in a single day in the US alone. A blockbuster movie earns as much in tickets as Jagdeep Singh reportedly pocketed daily. That’s right — my daily income would match Cameron’s cinematic behemoth. Just picture it: every breath a billionaire’s sigh.

Reality bites

Alas, my indulgent daydream was short-lived. QuantumScape swiftly poured cold water on the viral reports, clarifying that Singh had waived his salary and that the legendary Rs 48 crore-per-day figure was a myth. The extraordinary stock options? Terminated. As they say, easy come, easy go.

For a brief, glorious moment, I was a man of boundless means. Now, back to writing about others living the dream.

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