VG Siddhartha Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

VG Siddhartha, founder and owner of Cafe Coffee Day, was recovered from Nethravathi River near Mangaluru on July 30, 2019, according to The Times of India.

The founder of the popular coffee chain and son-in-law of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna was “unreachable” since July 29, 2019, after leaving his vehicle to walk on a bridge over the Netravati River.

According to police, a massive search spanning 30 hours and involving multiple agencies turned up the body of VG Siddhartha in the backwaters of the Nethravathi River on July 30. The body has reportedly been taken to Government Wenlock Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Siddhartha Went Missing Near the Netravati River on July 29, 2019

According to CNN Business, Mangalore police commissioner Sandeep Patil said Indian police believe Siddhartha left the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Monday and traveled by car to Mangalore about 220 miles away. Police reportedly believe the Siddhartha left his car to walk on a bridge over the Netravati River, near where it flows into the Arabian Sea. He has been unreachable since then.

“This is to inform you that, Mr. V G Siddhartha, Chairman and Managing Director of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited has not reachable since yesterday evening,” Coffee Day Enterprises said in a statement on the morning of July 30. “We are taking the help of concerned authorities. Company is professionally managed and led by competent leadership team, which will ensure continuity of business. We will keep you posted as and when we receive further updates.”

Journalist Revathi Rajeevan shared a photo of the Ullal bridge, where arrangements are reportedly being made for teams to continue search operations into the night.

2. Shares of Cafe Coffee Day Enterprises Tanked on July 30, 2019

“I had known #VGSiddhartha personally and was always amazed at his energy and positivity,” Sachin Bansal wrote on Twitter. “Distressed by his disappearance. He has been an inspiring entrepreneur and investor.”

According to its website, Siddhartha founded Coffee Day in 1993. He opened the first Café Coffee Day in the southern Indian city of Bangalore three years later. The company has since grown into India’s biggest coffee chain, with over 1,700 outlets across 245 Indian cities as of last year.

The company has retail outlets in Austria, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Malaysia and Nepal, and exports coffee to several markets including North America, Europe and the Middle East. CNN Business reports that shares in Coffee Day Enterprises plunged 20% to a record low on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday following the news of Siddhartha’s disappearance.

3. Siddhartha Wrote a Letter to Employees and the Board of Directors

While it is yet to be verified, Asian News International shared the letter VG Siddhartha wrote to the Board of Directors and Coffe Day family.

“After 37 years, with strong commitment to hard work, having directly created 30,000 jobs in our companies and their subsidiaries, as well as another 20,000 jobs in technology company where I have been a large shareholder since its founding. I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts.”

Newsman Rajdeep Sardesai said that if the letter is genuine, tax terrorism is a huge issue and if it can affect someone like VG Siddhartha, it can happen to anyone.

“I would like to say I gave it my all,” Siddhartha continued in the letter. “I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend. Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation.”

4. People Believe Siddhartha May Have Committed Suicide

India TV News Channel journalist T Raghavan shared a video of a fisherman who claims to have seen VG Siddhartha jumping into Netravati river. People believe Siddhartha may have taken his own life due to the circumstances and the tone of his letter.

“My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody,” Siddhartha wrote in the letter. “I have failed as an entrepreneur. This is my sincere submission. I hope someday you will understand, forgive and pardon me. I have enclosed a list of our assets and tentative value of each asset. As seen below, our assets outweigh our liabilities and can help repay everybody.”

Siddhartha requested that the Cafe Coffee Day family be strong and continue running the business with new management. He said he is solely responsible for all of his mistakes, which he even withheld from his family.

5. People Are Reacting to the News on Social Media

Hotelier Naren Mohan Ramesh said “#VGSiddhartha is one of the only few Kannadiga entrepreneurs who made it big and someone whom I have come to respect and admire since my childhood. Not able to fathom and come to terms with it since morning. His legacy hopefully will live on as a seasoned entrepreneur.”

“It shows how poor our taxation policy is, death of #VGSiddhartha is also the death Indian entrepreneurs who want to #MakeInIndia,” an ETV Chhattisgarh reporter said.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta said “#VGSiddhartha Sad end. Succumbed to disease of doing business in India.”