With Cafe Coffee Day outlets in every nook and corner of the country, it may seem like the company is in its all-time high. However, in a shocking incident which took place recently, CCD founder VG Siddhartha went missing and left behind a concerning letter in his office.
According to Hindustan Times, VG Siddhartha, who is one of India’s largest coffee bean exporters, went missing after he asked his driver to drop him off at the Netravathi bridge in Mangaluru saying that he wanted to take a walk. He had asked the driver to take the car and wait on the other end of the bridge and wait for him there. When he didn’t come back after an hour and there was no sight of him, the driver called the police.
“I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts. I would like to say I gave it my all. 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”, he wrote.
Speaking on the pressure created by the tax officers and private equity partners, he wrote:
“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 led me to succumb to the situation. There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG income tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking a position of our Coffee Day shares. This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch.”
Founder & owner, Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), #VGSiddhartha's letter to employees and board of directors of CCD, states, "Every financial transaction is my responsibility…the law should hold me & only me accountable."; He has gone missing from Mangaluru, search operation underway. pic.twitter.com/0GJc5vmvYt
— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2019
HT revealed that Siddhartha enclosed a list of assets and tentative value of each asset with the letter saying that the assets “outweigh” their “liabilities and can help repay everybody”.
According to a report by NDTV, the police have launched a massive search operation near the Netravathi bridge, divers are scanning the muddy river, and officers are searching on inflatable boats.
Netizens have taken on social media to express their concern over the missing entrepreneur.
I can't say I knew #VGSiddhartha but I had met him socially a couple of times. He introduced me to his ready-to-go brand of coffee (then called Drizzle, now FiltaFresh) which I still carry with me while travelling. He created an excellent brand.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 30, 2019
#VGSiddhartha case is a classic case of most home grown entrepreneurs. Build a business from scratch, create wealth,jobs,brand name-everything that Indians aspire for but a thankless society & anti business govt ensures that it all comes to nought. Lesson 4 budding entrepreneurs!
— Nilesh patel wavia (@nileshwavia1) July 30, 2019
Its really sad to read this note. We need a robust business ecosystem to support genuine businesses who suffer losses. MSME segment needs more protection. #VGSiddhartha https://t.co/5K8khiJmqj
— Vinit Goenka (@vinitgoenka) July 30, 2019
Heartbreaking. No entrepreneur deserves this. This is a collective failure of the entire ecosystem. Hoping for the safe return of #VGSiddhartha pic.twitter.com/AXVjkl7crZ
— Karthik R (@karthik0415) July 30, 2019
As terrible as #VGSiddhartha's news is, its also a reminder to the #TaxTerrorism that's pushing businessmen towards drastic decisions.😢 pic.twitter.com/nxcJU3NIfQ
— Anuraag Saxena (@anuraag_saxena) July 30, 2019
I have followed his professional life very closely since college days. He has always been a winner and role model to many youngsters. He created over 50k jobs and many from my native #Kodagu have benefitted from his ventures. This is such a tragedy. #VGSiddhartha @CafeCoffeeDay
— Dinu Nanjappa (@DinuNanjappa) July 30, 2019
We wish his family strength during this tough time and sincerely hope he’s found.