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VG Siddhartha, the founder and owner of Cafe Coffee Day, has been missing since Monday, July 29, according to a report from India Today. Siddhartha reportedly left his car abandoned near a bridge over the Netravati River. According to CNN Business, Siddhartha has been “unreachable” since leaving the city of Bangalore.
“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. “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.”
Following news of his disappearance, a letter was shared by Asian News International that was allegedly written by VG Siddhartha to the Board of Directors and Coffee Day family.
The tone of letter is worrisome and some believe that Siddhartha may have traveled to the bridge to take his own life.
“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,” the letter read.
“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. Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation.
“My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody. 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.”
One eye witness believes he may have seen Siddhartha leap into the river.
Cafe Coffee Day is the largest coffee chain in India. Since news of Siddhartha going missing went public, shares in the company have tanked 20 percent to a record low on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
No further information is available at this time.
