‘I Hope Someday You Will Understand And Forgive Me’: Parting Letter Of Missing CCD Founder Emerges

A parting letter purportedly written by Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder and entrepreneur V G Siddhartha who went missing near Mangaluru on Monday (30 July) has now emerged in the media.

In the letter (dated 27 July) addressed to the employees and board of CCD, Siddhartha laments that despite his hard work of 37 years which saw employment being created for 50,000 people, he failed to create the right profitable model despite his best efforts.

“I would like to say I gave it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people who put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I gave up...”, Siddhartha wrote in the letter claiming that he could no longer take any more pressure from a private equity partner to buy back shares.

He also alleged harassment at the hands of an erstwhile Director-General of Income Tax, which saw the attachment of CCD shares, blocking of Mindtree’s equity acquisition which led to a severe liquidity crunch.

“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”, the letter added.

Siddhartha also implored his employees to continue running the business and took responsibility for all financial decisions taken during his tenure. He also enclosed a list of company assets which he said are enough to repay every lender.