All CCD outlets across the country to remain shut on Wednesday to mourn founder VG Siddhartha’s death
New Delhi: All Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlets across the country will remain shut today to mourn the loss of founder VG Siddhartha. This comes after the dead body of Siddhartha was found in Netravathi river in Mangaluru on Wednesday morning at around 6:30 am.
Siddhartha had gone missing on Monday night after he drove towards Mangaluru. A CCTV camera footage of Bengaluru-Mangaluru toll booth showed his black Toyota Innova car moving towards the bridge. He reportedly got off from his car at Ullal bridge and abandoned the car, about 375km from Bengaluru, but did not return even after an hour.
He was talking to someone on the phone when he got off the car, according to the driver. When he did Siddhartha did not return even after an hour, the panicked driver went down looking for him, but could not find him anywhere following which he alerted the family members who then informed the police. A fisherman also claimed that he had seen someone jumping off the bridge at around 7 pm on Monday.
His body was found near Hoige Bazaar at around 6.30 am today (July 31, 2019). The Hoige Bazaar beach is less than a kilometre from the bridge where Siddhartha was last seen. The body has been shifted to Wenlock Hospital for autopsy following which it will be handed over to the family. His body will be taken to Chetanhalli estate for cremation.
It is worth mentioning that in a letter that is being touted as the last letter (dated July 29, 2019) penned down by him to the Board of Directors and employees before his disappearance, Siddhartha reportedly said that he had “failed as an entrepreneur.”
Expressing his despair and anguish at “failing to create the right profitable business model,” the business tycoon purportedly wrote in the letter, “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 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.”
Siddhartha, who founded CCD in 1996, is survived by wife Malavika and two children. He completed his post-graduation from Mangalore University and went on to work in several key portfolios with various financial firms before launching a business of his own choice.
