S.P. Kothari is the Gordon Y. Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He is an expert in strategic policy, securities regulation, auditing, and corporate governance.

His notable positions include Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at the US SEC (2019–2021), Global Head of Equity Research for Barclays Global Investors, and Deputy Dean at MIT Sloan. He holds a BS from BITS Pilani, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, and a PhD from the University of Iowa. He is a recipient of India's Padma Shri (2020) and the American Accounting Association's Distinguished Contributions to Accounting Literature Award.