With a net worth of approximately $1.55 billion, Anand Mahindra’s prowess took the Mahindra Group from a single Mumbai-based conglomerate to a powerhouse holding stakes in myriad industries.

Recently, someone tweeted a photograph, taken back in 1997, which featured in the 3-part Netflix docuseries Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates. 

Exploring the mind and motivations of the celebrated tech visionary, businessman and philanthropist – the series had a rare photo of him having a meeting with Mahindra. 

On learning about its existence, Mahindra became nostalgic and shared the real story behind the stern faces in the picture. 

Talking about the age without cellphones and sophisticated cameras, Anand Mahindra was surprised that the photograph, clicked by a Fortune Magazine photographer back then, would still hold relevance. 

He further told, their meeting wasn’t a coincidence because they both were from Harvard but because they had common business interests. 

But it was not just business that unfolded between the two. 

Mahindra revealed he held a grudge against Gates because of his children and told Gates about the same when they met. 

Learning about her father’s even more successful friends from Harvard, Anand Mahindra’s daughter called him a loser. 

When the same was conveyed to Bill Gates, he simply had a good laugh about that. 

Despite being amongst the finest businessmen in the country, Anand Mahindra’s daughter believed his father could’ve achieved a lot more. Enough to compare him with his former classmate.

But in the end, it tickled Gates’ funny bone and both burst out laughing.