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V G Siddhartha

About V G Siddhartha

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Who was V G Siddhartha

V G Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna, was born in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district in a family that had been in the business of coffee plantation for around 140 years.
 
Siddhartha is credited with creating India's largest coffee empire — Café Coffee Day.
 
He was known to be an individual who effortlessly wore many hats — as a smart investor and a die-hard entrepreneur. Right after earning a masters degree from the Mangalore University, Siddhartha dabbled in the stock market. Since his 20s, he believed investment was a mind game. At 24 in 1983, he left the comfort of his home and travelled to Mumbai in pursuit of his dreams. That year, he joined JM Financial Limited in Mumbai as a management intern under vice-chairman Mahendra Kampani.
 
After a two-year stint with JM Financials, Siddhartha returned to Bengaluru to launch Sivan Securities, a stock trading company (now known as Way2Wealth). By 1985, he was a full-time proprietary investor in the stock market and owner of 10,000 acres of coffee farms. Subsequently, his childhood association with coffee prompted him to launch Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company in 1992, which emerged as a leading exporter of coffee. Later, he replicated the Starbucks model in India with the launch of his signature coffee retail business, Café Coffee Day (CCD), in 1995.
 
CCD today is India's largest coffee chain and is owned by Coffee Day Global, a subsidiary of Coffee Day Enterprises. CCD has around 1,700 cafes, around 48,000 vending machines, 532 kiosks and 403 ground coffee selling outlets.
 
In 1996, the first CCD store had opened at Bengaluru’s crowded Brigade Road, where coffee and an hour of internet surfing together cost Rs 100 at the time.
 
While Coffee Day was taking its time in expansion, other rival chains came along and took the concept national. In its new strategy, CCD would open its store right next to its rival. A 2015 Forbes list pegged Siddhartha’s net worth at $1.2 billion (Rs 8,200 crore).
 
Besides CCD, Siddhartha had founded a hospitality chain which runs a seven-star resort Serai and Cicada. Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro had recently purchased around 20 per cent of Siddhartha and Cafe Coffee Day’s stake in tech company Mindtree through block deal for about Rs 3,210 crore.
 
In 2017, V G Siddhartha had been accused of a tax evasion. Income-tax raids had been conducted at over 20 locations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Chikmagalur by senior officers of the income-tax department of Karnataka and Goa regions.
 
In a letter dated July 27, 2019, Siddhartha had written to the board of directors and CCD family, saying he had “failed to create the right profitable business model”.
 
"I sincerely request each of you to be strong and to continue running these businesses with new management," said V G Siddhartha in his letter, adding that "every financial transaction" was his responsibility. "My team, auditors and senior management are totally unaware of all my transactions. The law should hold me and only me accountable, as I have withheld this information from everybody, including my family. My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody; I have failed as an entrepreneur," Siddhartha wrote.
 
Two days after he went missing, his body was recovered from the banks of the Nethravathi river near Mangaluru in Karnataka. A police official said "everything" points to suicide, but nothing can be ruled out until the investigation is over.
 

Latest Updates on V G Siddhartha

Malavika Hegde of Cafe Coffee Day joins a small league of wives who have gone on to rewrite the future of their companies after the untimely demise of their husbands. What accounts for their tenacity?

Updated On: 29 Dec 2020 | 7:52 AM IST

Daughter of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, she was earlier non-exec director at the firm; has been named at a time when the company's growth continues to decline

Updated On: 07 Dec 2020 | 11:51 PM IST

After the demise of VG Siddhartha, the conglomerate is facing liquidity crunch owing to higher interest outgo towards servicing debt.

Updated On: 29 Jan 2020 | 9:00 PM IST

Shriram Ownership Trust is the promoter of Shriram Capital, which is the holding company for its NBFC and insurance businesses.

Updated On: 23 Jan 2020 | 11:20 PM IST

In September, CDEL decided to sell the Global Village Tech Park to private equity major Blackstone and realty firm Salarpuria Sattva Group for Rs 2,700 crore

Updated On: 08 Nov 2019 | 10:14 PM IST

The company has reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 43.19 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, compared with a Rs 7.77-crore profit before tax during the same quarter last year

Updated On: 08 Nov 2019 | 9:02 PM IST

Audit firm EY which was earlier given the task opted out owing to certain conflict of interest

Updated On: 31 Aug 2019 | 1:25 AM IST

CCD's biggest achievement has been to get a predominantly tea-drinking country (especially the North & West) to take to coffee with such gusto

Updated On: 10 Aug 2019 | 12:39 AM IST

After the resignation of Sulakshana Raghavan last week, the board is planning to induct two independent directors soon

Updated On: 10 Aug 2019 | 1:00 AM IST

In its last board meet held on July 31, the board had roped in law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as its legal counsel to advise on related matters

Updated On: 09 Aug 2019 | 2:05 AM IST

When word got around in the MEA that Siddhartha and Malavika were going to New York and would be with Krishna, protocol officers went to Delhi airport to see off the couple.

Updated On: 04 Aug 2019 | 10:22 PM IST

They say the notion that PE investors leverage bait-and-switch to lure promoters and entrepreneurs into lose-lose situations through debt products is misleading

Updated On: 03 Aug 2019 | 10:58 PM IST

Vinod Khosla was of the view that more money an entrepreneur raises initially, the less likely he or she is going to succeed

Updated On: 03 Aug 2019 | 9:52 PM IST

He says that there are a lot of start-ups in India now than five years ago

Updated On: 03 Aug 2019 | 2:55 AM IST

Tanglin Retail Reality Developments, part of the group, has a 50.2 per cent stake in the logistics and supply chain solutions company

Updated On: 02 Aug 2019 | 8:55 PM IST

Private sector must be a partner of the Revenue, not an enemy

Updated On: 02 Aug 2019 | 8:52 PM IST

Siddhartha's body was recovered from a river near Mangalore on Wednesday after he went missing earlier this week

Updated On: 02 Aug 2019 | 9:00 PM IST

A complex holding structure and unrelated businesses clubbed under one roof could have been the reasons that prompted investors to shun the stock, experts say

Updated On: 02 Aug 2019 | 2:51 AM IST

Parliament approves changes in IBC, providing greater clarity over distribution of proceeds of auction of loan-defaulting companies

Updated On: 02 Aug 2019 | 1:30 AM IST

Siddhartha's death marks a tragic turn for an admired member of India's business elite and an executive closely connected to the highest echelons of the political sphere

Updated On: 01 Aug 2019 | 10:05 AM IST