VG Siddhartha was an Indian businessman from Karnataka. He was the founder and owner of the popular food and beverage chain Café Coffee Day.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
VG Siddhartha was born in the year 1959 (age 60 years at the time of death) in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. He studied in a local school in Chikmagalur. He did his graduation from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore. He did his post graduation in Economics from Mangalore University. When he was in college he wanted to join the Indian Army and he also joined NCC when he was in college.
VG Siddhartha after graduating from college
After completing his studies he went back to his hometown. His father wanted him to join the family business, but, Siddharth wanted to do something on his own and make a name for himself. In 1985, he traveled to Mumbai to try his luck. He stayed in a room with a shared toilet at a place called Fort. He then went to financial security company JM Financial and asked for an interview. Even though he didn’t have an appointment, the receptionist was from Karnataka, and she asked him to wait. He was interviewed by the company’s vice chairman Mahendra Kampani. The interview went well and he was selected.
VG Siddharth with Mahendra Kampani
Siddharth loved Mahendra very much and used to call him Mahendrabhai. He learned everything from him and also considered him his ideal. Siddharth used to invest money in stocks and other financial securities, but, Mahendra advised him not to invest everything in one place. This inspired Siddhartha to invest his money in coffee estates, and by the end of his career at JM Financial, he had 3000 acres of coffee plantations to his name. He left JM Financial in 1985 after working there for two years.
VG Siddharth during his young days
He went home and asked his father to lend him some money to start his own financial securities firm. His father lent him Rs 7.50 lakh and said-
When you lose it, you can come home”
This was the moment when Siddharth decided that he could not lose the money. He bought land worth Rs 5 lakh and with the remaining money he started his own firm, Sivan Securities. Later, he changed the name of his firm to “Way2Wealth Securities”. While he was in the financial securities business, he was also running his own coffee plantations.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx): 6′ 2″
Weight (Approx): 70 kg
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Black
Family, Wife and Caste
VG Siddhartha belongs to the Vokkaliga caste (a caste traditionally identified as landlords and village heads). His father, Gangaiah Hegde, owned several coffee estates. His mother Vasantiji Hegde was a housewife. His family was in the coffee export business. Siddharth married Malavika Krishna in 1991. Malavika is the daughter of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna. They have two sons Ishaan and Amartya.
VG Siddhartha with his father (far left) and mother (left)
VG Siddharth with his wife Malavika
VG Siddharth’s sons Ishaan (far left) and Amartya (far right)
livelihood
In the early 1990s, Siddhartha was managing his firm and coffee estate simultaneously. In 1994, he bought a dying coffee curing unit and turned it into a success. He started a company, the Amalgamated Bean Company (ABC), and began selling the brand’s coffee powder locally. In 1995 he met the owner of the German coffee company Tchibo, the second largest in Europe. Siddhartha thought that Tchibo would have had to run for a century to achieve so much success. When the owner told him the story of how his company became the second largest company in just 5 decades, Siddharth was inspired and motivated. He set up 10 retail stores in Bengaluru to sell ABC coffee powder. They also started exporting their coffee powder to other countries, mainly Brazil. By the end of 1995 his company was the largest exporter of coffee in India.
In 1996, the idea of starting a café came to Siddharth’s mind. He told this idea to his wife and his business partner. He rejected the idea as soon as he heard it; Because he wanted to sell coffee at Rs 25 per cup, at a time when coffee was available at Rs 5 per cup. Internet was a new thing for the people in India and everyone wanted to surf the internet. Internet cafes used to charge up to Rs 100 for an hour of web surfing. Then Siddharth came up with the idea that he would start a café where you could drink coffee and surf the web simultaneously, and it would also justify the price of Rs 25. He pitched this idea to his partners and said- “Let’s start this as an experiment”. In 1996 he opened the first Café Coffee Day outlet in Brigade Road, Bengaluru.
VG Siddharth outside a CCD cafe
Café Coffee Day (CCD) was an instant hit, and young people were attracted to the idea that they could surf the Internet and hang out while drinking coffee at the same time. By the end of 2000, CCD had 22 cafes across South India. In 2001, Siddharth noticed that people in cities like Mumbai and Delhi were copying his idea and opened cafes similar to CCD. Then he decided to open stores in North India also. During the next few years, Siddhartha started expanding CCD and by the end of 2007, there were more than 200 CCD outlets across India. In 2005, CCD opened its first international outlet in Vienna. Since then it has spread to more than 7 countries. As of the end of July 2019, CCD had approximately 1850 outlets worldwide.
VG Siddharth in CCD
Controversy
On September 21, 2017, the Income Tax Department raided 20 of his offices in Karnataka and Goa. He claimed that Siddharth was involved in tax evasion.
Signature
Signature of VG Siddharth
Disappearance and death
On 29 July 2019, Siddhartha left his Bengaluru office and left for Sakhleshpur by road with his driver. On the way to Sakhleshpur he suddenly asked his driver to go towards Mangaluru. While going to Manguluru, his car was near a bridge and he asked his driver to stop the car. He got out and told his driver to go ahead and wait at the end of the bridge, and he would drive there a little later. His driver did as he was instructed, but, after an hour, when Siddhartha did not return, he became worried and called him. Siddharth’s phone was switched off, hence, he went back and searched for it. The driver called Siddhath’s son and informed him and then, he went to the nearest police station to lodge an FIR.
Search operation by NDRF to find VG Siddhartha
Police started the search operation on 30 July 2019. They also searched the areas near the bridge and in the Netravathi river; A fisherman told that he had seen someone jumping into the river. On 31 July 2019 at 07:43 am, the search team found a dead body in the Netravati river. Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil said- “We have found a body resembling that of VG Siddhartha, and it is being taken to Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru for identification by the family.”
VG Siddhartha’s body is being recovered from Netravati river.
His family members reached the hospital and identified his body. His body was taken for post-mortem and after all the formalities were completed, his family took his body to Chikmagalur. On 31 July 2019, his mortal remains were kept at the Chikmagalur office for anyone wishing to pay homage to VG Siddhartha. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was also present to bid farewell to Siddhartha.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa attends the funeral of YG Siddhartha
His mortal remains were cremated at 4:30 pm on 31 July 2019 in Belur Taluk, Karnataka. His family decided to perform his last rites there because in Belur taluk, on his father’s coffee estate, he had decided to become an entrepreneur.
VG Siddhartha’s mortal remains being taken to Chikmagalur
The final report of his post-mortem confirmed that he died of drowning.
net worth
As of 2018, VG Siddhartha’s net worth was $1.2 billion.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Apart from Cafe Coffee Day, Siddharth had many other businesses.
- On 31 July 2019, all CCD outlets across India were closed in his honour. CCD also paid tribute to him on Twitter.
Today we remember the legend who inspired us all. Thank you Chairman VG Siddhartha for your vision, leadership and great legacy. pic.twitter.com/tYMiglgofe
– Cafe Coffee Day (@CafeCoffeeDay) 31 July 2019
- Following his death, the CCD management appointed SV Ranganath as interim chairman and Nitin Bagmane as interim chief operating officer (CEO).
VG Siddharth with SV Ranganath
- Nearly a month after Siddharth’s death, his father, Gangaiah Hegde, who was in a coma, died on 25 August 2019. He was hospitalized for a long time and was in a coma for more than a month. His father was not even aware of his son’s death.
VG Siddharth with his father Gangaiah Hegde
- In June 2022, a biopic on VG Siddhartha was announced by production companies T-Series and Almighty Motion Picture. The biopic is an adaptation of Coffee King: The Swift Rise and Sudden Death of Café Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha’s book, written by investigative journalists Rukmini BR and Prosenjit Dutta.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn