Meet Chinnakannan Sivasankaran, who once owned two islands, used to live in a 71-room palace, founder of one of India’s top telecom company, but today…

Chinnakannan Sivasankaran Story: Chinnakannan Sivasankaran, once owned two islands and lived in a 71-room palace, but the fate of billionaire businessman took a U-turn and now he leads the life of a common man. The life story of Chinnakannan Sivasankaran is nothing short of a Bollywood masala movie, filled with dramatic ups and downs. But it’s not just a tale of downfall—it also stands as an example of rising again after failure. Once a billionaire, Sivasankaran describes himself today as broken, but insists he is not poor. What happened in his life that brought him to this point?

All you need to know about Chinnakannan Sivasankaran:

  • Chinnakannan Sivasankaran was born into a modest family in Tamil Nadu.
  • Sivasankaran entered the business world at a very young age.
  • In the beginning, he started a computer hardware business.
  • Later, he progressed and took his ventures to new heights.
  • He founded a company called Sterling Computers Limited (STC), which, during the 1990s, became one of India’s top computer companies.
  • Shivashankaran gained real recognition when he founded Aircel.
  • Launched in 1999, the company brought a revolution in the telecom sector of South India.
  • Within a very short time, Aircel attracted millions of customers and became one of the major telecom brands in the country.

Shivashankaran, later sold a 74 percent stake in Aircel to Maxis Communications (Malaysia). This deal got highly controversial and was later linked to the 2G spectrum scam. After that, Shivashankaran’s troubles began, and his fortunes changed.

In 2018, Aircel officially filed for bankruptcy. Following this, Shivashankaran was burdened with massive debt and legal troubles. He claimed that he suffered a loss of Rs 7,000 crore due to the entire episode.

Chinnakannan Shivashankaran, popularly known as ‘Siva’, was once estimated to have a net worth of $4 billion. However, after Aircel went bankrupt in 2018, his world turned upside down. Recently, while sharing his story on Ranveer Allahbadia’s show, The Ranveer Show, he revealed how he lost ₹7,000 crore. He said, “I am not poor, I’m just broken for now.” He also mentioned that a related case is pending in the Supreme Court, and he is hopeful that he will recover his money through it.

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