Coffee king of India VG Siddhartha's body was found in the backwaters of the Netravati river on Wednesday morning.
In his last letter addressed to his staff and board of directors, he wrote "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."
In the same letter, he mentioned how he crumbled under the harassment from the former DG of Income Tax. Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, appears to have become a victim of the unfolding nationwide debt crisis triggered by the collapse of India’s largest shadow banking firm – IL& FS.
However, Siddhartha is not the first entrepreneur in this country to have succumbed to the soaring debts and enormous amounts of stress that can come hand-in-hand with success.
Here are some business honchos who took their lives in the last decade:
Vineet Whig, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Vineet Whig, 47, the Chief Operating Officer of South Asia at Encyclopaedia Britannica, took his life by jumping from the 19th floor of his society's building in Cyber City, Gurugram in 2016. A suicide note recovered from Whig's pocket stated that he was under a lot of stress. He took the extreme step as he was "fed up" with his life.
Lalit Sheth, Founder Raj Travel World
In 2012, the founder of the country’s then leading leisure travel company took his life by jumping off the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The initial probe claimed that he ended his life due to debts.
Akanksha Rathi, Director Rathi TMT
Rathi was an industrialist from Indore and Madhya Pradesh. She was found hanging from the ceiling at her parents' house in Southwest Delhi on 23rd October in 2012. It was told that she could not deal with the trauma of losing her husband to a heart attack.
Lucky Gupta Agarwal, Founder CEO of KQingdom Ites
In 2012, another 33-year-old entrepreneur Lucky Gupta Agarwal killed himself by inhaling nitrogen. News reports said the Noida techie-turned-entrepreneur took the step after his text and messaging app failed to take off.
Tsutomu Omori, MD Olympus Medical Systems India
In 2012, the managing director of Olympus Tsutomu Omori's body was found hanging from a railing in a children's play area at a luxury high-rise apartment complex in the suburb of Gurgaon. A suicide note written in Japanese said, "I am ashamed and sorry for the trouble."
Sajan Parayil, NRI businessman
In June this year, a 48-year-old businessman Sajan Parayil took his life in Kannur after he failed to open a convention centre, which he had built with his savings for his villagers. He reportedly faced resistance from the municipal chairperson while trying to procure a licence.
(With inputs from Express News Service)