Dear reader, online ads enable us to deliver the journalism you value. Please support us by taking a moment to
Indian coffee magnate's body found by river
The body of a billionaire Indian coffee magnate who went missing amid financial troubles was found by a river in southern India, police said on Wednesday.
V.G. Siddhartha, founder of the Cafe Coffee Day chain that beat Starbucks at its own game in India, was last seen Monday next to the Nethravathi river near Mangaluru and reported missing soon after by his chauffeur.
Authorities launched a major search operation, and a fisherman found the body on the bank of the river.
“Siddhartha's body was found early this morning,” Sasikanth Senthil, deputy commissioner of South Karnataka police, told AFP “We have sent his body for post mortem analysis now and are awaiting results.”
The body will be handed over to the tycoon's family after legal formalities are completed, said Sandeep Patil, Mangaluru police commissioner.
Patil said an investigation was underway to determine whether Siddhartha took his own life.
Siddhartha — whose family have been in the coffee business for 130 years — opened his first Cafe Coffee Day store in 1996 and went on to become one of the world's biggest coffee traders.
The chain has more than 1,700 stores, mainly in India, but also in Malaysia, Egypt, Czech Republic and Austria, employing more than 30,000 people.
Police said Siddhartha left Bangalore late Monday, telling his family he was going to a hill resort but instead asked his driver to take him to Mangaluru.
He ordered the driver to stop the car and started walking along a bridge as he talked to someone on his phone before disappearing.
Siddhartha married a daughter of S.M. Krishna, a former foreign minister and chief minister, making him one of the country's best-connected tycoons.
But his empire came under pressure after tax authorities launched raids on company offices in 2017. Reports said Siddhartha was in talks with Coca-Cola about selling a major stake.
In a letter to the Cafe Coffee Day board, the 57-year-old chairman had admitted mistakes in handling his financial affairs.
But he said he had suffered pressure from lenders and harassment from Indian tax authorities.
“My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody, I have failed as an entrepreneur,” he said in the letter, which was dated July 27.
Comments (43) Closed
It's unfortunate. Siddhartha was one of our more ethical entrepreneurs. May he RIP.
Really sad. If you read the story carefully, he was being harassed by tax department. I sincerely hope his life may steer the minds of those sitting at the helm of the affairs while dealing sensitive matters with people who make great contribution in society. The story is valid on both sides of the borders.
Too bad... Too sad... R I P
Gordon D. Walker
Canada
Tragic end of a person who gave new dimensions to coffee.
Extremely sad state of affairs where he took this decision but it was not needed . He could hv revealed in public . Many would hv supported him.
RIP
This is sad ending. He is credited with increase of good quality Indian coffee exports to world. India became one of few countries to have premium coffee seeds providing livelihood to lot of coffee farmers in chikmangaluru. Had the lenders and tax authorities let him sell his stake probably today he would have been alive and also saved 30000 jobs.
RIP
CCD also has a outlet in Karachi!!!
A sad end to a tremendous success story. May you now have the peace that eluded you in your last years.
It is the duty of the tax authorities to check the invasion of tax if any and they are not responsible for his death.
Very sad, RIP, only honest people will feel ashamed, real criminals will enjoy like mallaya, nawaz
Whatever hopes his family had are dashed. My sympathies are with his family.
Billionaire with financial problems. So sad. Just goes to show, wealth does not bring stress free life and happiness. RIP
Money is necessary but doesn't make fortunate.
This is tragic ...... the social media has stories that he took his own life because of intense coercion from tax authorities....... hope the truth comes out.
RIP. Gharati person.
A sad end to the life of someone who built a brand bigger that beat the competetion hollow. Probably the truth will never be clear but his business achievements were clearly praise worthy.
Unfortunate.
Criminal angle should be investigated. It sounds too simple and blaming the tax authorities do not cut it. What is wrong in paying more tax when you earn even more?
Sad. Condolence to his family.
Sad ending of the Indian coffee king.
Nobody is safe in India
Corputs like Lalu, mehul, amit, chidambaram roam freely while these hardworking budding entrepreneurs are hounded by tax authorities in India. Why?
What a sad end. He appears to be too sensitive . Could not handle the pressure. Ups and downs are part of life and especially part of businesses. He should have fought it out. What would have been the worst case scenario? Disbanding his business? RIP
RIP very sad.
This is sad news... Such a self made man great success but murdered because of hopeless system.
RIP After all you want peace of mind ,not money in life
After the IBC law passed, govt can freeze the properties of loan defaulter and not allowed to go foreign having more than 100 CR default.
After the IBC law passed, govt can freeze the properties of loan defaulter and not allowed to go foreign having more than 100 CR default... Many more loan defaulter will die... Earlier poor/farmer used to die...Now rich... Country is on good path
Even billionaires suffer from depression. R I P
Gordon D. Walker
Canada
Late Siddhartha was directly responsible for Bangalore becoming silicon valley of India in 1993 and to India getting renowned for IT industry...he was solely responsible for Infosys staying afloat with VC funding during IPO and starting Mind tree and setting up several Software tech parks in Bangalore...
He is valued INR 25,000 cores. But he said he had suffered pressure from lenders and harassment from Indian tax authorities for few hundreds of cores. Rich people die only for their families not for poor one.
Every Millionaire faces hurdles in his life, but they start again and achieve their goal. If every Billionaire with loans, was asked to pay up, committed suicide, he will never be a millionaire.. Secondly all those who are blaming this on the tax authorities should simply look at the state that Pakistan is in today, due to the corrupt practises of your former Governments ... It is sad he committed suicide, but that is a cowards way out of a tricky situation not necessarily the solution .... Paying one's due to the state is first and foremost priority of any person ... it does not matter if he is a Pakistani or an Indian or a citizen of the EU
There is a beautiful arab saying.....translated...."Every Ambitious man is a captive and every covetous one is a pauper" Human condition doesn't allow happiness in wealth alone, without spirit there is no human.
@Naxalite, the corrupts are learning from Pakistanis..its the gold benchmark.
It was easy to raise debt from banks and avoid taxes until recently, especially for businessmen with political connections. Not any more. On the face of it this was a case of an over leveraged company going under, which keeps happening in free market economies. The suicide by its founder was therefore very tragic and unexpected.
This will not happen in Pakistan as we don't have Billionaires declared in Tax system.
A great tragedy at a personal level for family, friends and countless admirers.
One of the common reasons or such failure is rapid expansions by leveraged debt, and diversification into businesses that do not have a strategic fit with existing businesses.
Once a person is very successful in one area becomes over confident. Crooks like Mallya, go rouge and disappear. Others try to face the challenge and unfortunately pay a very heavy price. It is sad, indeed.
So billionaires also have financial problem? I checked my personal balance sheet and my net worth is now $27.00 after paying Real Estate taxes. I am not killing myself over it.
@TKhan, you don't have to keep running a company providing employment to 30000 families. And as far as balance sheet is concerned, he has written himself that their assets are more than liabilities.
Very Sad RIP
Well, one may call it a sad end to an ambitious business entrepreneur in efforts for to expand the business and caught in a web of cash liquidity crunch. Indeed he became a victim of his own calculations for the ways to refinance his slow sinking business. The dipping market trends in estate assets also contributed to his plans of refinancing the business. Well, he surely was an honest but then business is not the game for honest people to play.