Subrata Roy, the chief of Sahara Group, died at the age of 75 in Mumbai due to cardiorespiratory arrest after a prolonged struggle with complications related to metastatic malignancy, hypertension as well as diabetes.
Born on June 10, 1948, Subrata Roy ‘Sahara’ was a prominent figure in the Indian business landscape. He founded the Sahara India Pariwar, and the group’s employees used to address him as Sahara Shri.
Having scripted one of the most famous rags-to-riches stories of the country, Roy, hailing from Araria in Bihar, went on to expand his business across various sectors ranging from finance, housing, manufacturing, aviation, and the media and became a household name. His enterprise went on to own landmark global properties, including New York’s Plaza Hotel and London’s iconic Grosvenor House.
Under his leadership, Sahara also sponsored the Indian cricket and hockey teams and owned a Formula One racing team. The weddings of his two sons some two decades ago are still among the biggest parties ever seen in India. He lived in Lucknow.
In his prime, Roy, a mechanical engineer by qualification, had made the Sahara Group a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that counted itself among the biggest employers in the country. He was also known to have friends among the famous and powerful in the fields of politics and Bollywood.
Roy was arrested in 2014 on the orders of the Supreme Court after he failed to appear before it in a contempt case arising out of the non-refund of more than ₹ 20,000 crore to investors by two of his companies. He was later granted bail, but troubles continued for his various businesses.
Very few people know that Subrata Roy’s wife Swapna Roy and son Sushanto Roy had given up Indian citizenship and taken citizenship of Macedonia after Roy’s legal troubles started.
