Subrata Roy, managing director and chairman of Sahara group, passed away today (14th November) at 10.30 p.m. in Bombay at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital due to cardiorespiratory arrest following an extended battle with complications arising from metastatic malignancy, hypertension and diabetes. He was admitted to the hospital on 12th, two days before the end came. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, Swapna, and two sons, Sushant and Seemanto.
Saharashri, as he was respectfully called, had also dabbled into the entertainment and media industry. He owned a bouquet of television channels including entertainment channels. He ran a multi-crore-rupee business empire. His outstanding business journey started when he joined Sahara Finance, a struggling chit fund company, in 1976. He went on to take over that company and turned it around in two years to lay the foundation for what was to grow into the Sahara empire which, at its peak, employed 1.2 million people. He was a first-generation entrepreneur.
His brush with law made headline news as did his business for many years. In March 2014, the Supreme Court ordered his detention for his failure to appear in court in connection with a dispute with SEBI, which had ordered his group to refund the monies of billions of investors. He spent more than two years in Tihar Jail in the case till he was released on parole in May 2016.