Milken's Theory: India's CEOs Drive Stock Surge

A Wall Street observation by investor Michael Milken, suggesting that companies appointing Indian-born CEOs experience stock growth, has gained traction. His interview from August 2025 resurfaced, prompting an analysis by investor Deedy Das. Das's backtesting over 15 years indicated that investing in companies after they appointed India-born CEOs could yield nearly 50 times the initial investment, with annual compounded returns around 30%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's approximately 14%.

Several leading US technology firms are currently headed by executives of Indian origin, including Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, and Adobe's Shantanu Narayen. These companies have witnessed substantial growth during their tenures. For instance, Microsoft's revenue surged from $86.8 billion to nearly $245 billion under Nadella, and Alphabet's revenue surpassed $400 billion under Pichai.

While Das's analysis drew significant attention, he later clarified that the superior stock performance might not be solely attributed to the CEOs' origin but rather to the high-growth nature of the technology companies they lead. Milken himself acknowledged never formally backtesting his theory, and public records do not indicate systematic investment strategies based on CEO origin. Nonetheless, the trend underscores the significant contribution of Indian talent in the US corporate sector and the global economy.