The amazing rise—and the even more amazing fall—of #Zee founder @subhashchandra, the Haryanvi rice supplier who turned India’s first satellite TV broadcaster into a rabid “fabricator of consent” for the great cause, bit off more than his due, and found himself abandoned. (1/9)
January 2016: Narendra Modi launches @subhashchandra’s candid biography ‘The Z Factor: My Journey As The Wrong Man at the Right Time’ at the PM’s official 7, Race Course Road residence, in the presence of three cabinet ministers: tinyurl.com/96praj3s (2/9)
June 2016: “Independent” candidate @subhashchandra elected to Rajya Sabha with BJP support from Haryana, after 14 Congress votes are rejected. 12 of the Congress votes were declared invalid due to use of “wrong type of ink”. (3/9) tinyurl.com/nce99f74
November 2017: The @IndianExpress reveals through ‘The Paradise Papers’ that through a complex web of transactions, offshore companies of Essel Group, promoted by @subhashchandra, had pledged #Zee shares to raise funds and repay debts. (4/9)
September 2018: In interview with @the_hindu, Subhash Chandra lights into Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani, alleges that the then TRAI chairman Ram Sevak Sharma had got an extension in office because of RIL. (5/9) thehindu.com/business/Indus…
November 2018: November 2018: @timesofindia reports that @subhashchandra was ready to sell up to half his family’s 42% stake to pare debts—and that among the names of potential buyers was Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. (6/9)
December 2018: Mohit Bhalla reports in the @EconomicTimes that a company called ‘Nityank’ was opposing the merger between the DTH arms of Videocon and Essel groups over pledged shares. The Dhoots and Chandras are related to each other by marriage. (7/9) m.economictimes.com/industry/media…
2019: @thewire_in reports that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is probing ‘Nityank’, for the Rs 3,000 crore deposits made just after #Demonetisation. Zee stocks tank by Rs 14,000 crore. @subhashchandra delivers a public apology. (8/9)
October 2020: Once India’s 27th richest man with a net worth of Rs 35,000 crore in 2018, @subhashchandra now claims his personal assets had slumped to under Rs 10 crore. (9/9)
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.