The Z Factor
My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time
Subhash Chandra
- Memoir
- of
- one
- of
- India's
- most
- prominent
- businessmenThe
- pioneer
- who
- gate-crashed
- his
- way
- to
- the
- top
- Subhash
- Chandra,
- the
- promoter
- of
- Essel/
- Zee
- Group,
- is
- an
- unlikely
- mogul.
- Hailing
- from
- a
- small
- town
- in
- Haryana,
- where
- his
- family
- ran
- grain
- mills,
- Chandra
- has
- been
- a
- perennial
- outsider,
- repeatedly
- aiming
- high
- and
- breaking
- into
- businesses
- where
- he
- was
- considered
- an
- interloper.
- Starting
- work
- as
- a
- teen
- to
- pay
- off
- family
- debts,
- Chandra
- had
- to
- rely
- on
- bluff,
- gumption
- and
- sheer
- hard
- toil
- to
- turn
- things
- around.
- A
- little
- bit
- of
- luck
- and
- political
- patronage
- saw
- him
- make
- a
- fortune
- in
- rice
- exports
- to
- the
- erstwhile
- USSR.
- Always
- a
- risk-taker,
- Chandra
- then
- had
- the
- vision
- of
- getting
- into
- broadcasting
- early,
- even
- as
- established
- media
- players
- failed
- to
- see
- its
- potential.
- His
- Zee
- TV,
- India's
- first
- private
- Indian
- TV
- channel,
- changed
- the
- rules
- of
- the
- game
- and
- tickled
- the
- fancy
- of
- a
- public
- starved
- of
- entertainment.
- Several
- gutsy
- initiatives
- followed,
- though
- not
- all
- of
- them
- were
- successful.
- Chandra's
- attempts
- to
- launch
- satellite
- telephony
- and
- a
- cricket
- league
- came
- a
- cropper.
- But
- the
- man
- continues
- to
- reinvent
- himself;
- he
- is
- now
- also
- focusing
- on
- infrastructure
- and
- smart
- cities.
- This
- is
- an
- unusually
- candid
- memoir
- of
- a
- truly
- desi
- self-made
- businessman
- who
- came
- to
- Delhi
- at
- age
- twenty
- with
- seventeen
- rupees
- in
- his
- pocket.
- Today,
- he
- has
- a
- net
- worth
- of
- $6.3
- billion
- and
- annual
- group
- revenues
- of
- about
- $3 billion.
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