Satyam means truth. It couldn't have been more ironic for Satyam Computer Services to have its chairman and founder B Ramalinga Raju admit to fraud and blatant manipulation of accounts.
The irony does not end there. On the Satyam web site are listed some of its business mantras, including:
Execution -- Ordinary people doing extraordinary things; Uncommon ideas -- They can come from any quarter and in numerous forms; Success -- It's about having an eye on the outcome all the time; Business Transformation -- It's not alchemy, its chemistry.
Indeed, Satyam's founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju has proved that ordinary people can certainly do extraordinary things!
Raju's net worth till May 2008 was estimated to be $650 million.
Satyam Computer Services was founded by Raju in 1987. After dabbling in businesses like construction and textiles, he decided to focus on IT. During his stint in the United States, he realised that there was a huge market for outsourcing.
Many people in the US feared that the Satyam chairman would be responsible for taking away a huge chunk of jobs to India.
Today, the world will fear him for a different reason. Raju has made a mockery of the financial system and duped millions of investors.
However, it was a terrific start and growth for a company he started with just 20 employees. He won several projects from American companies. Satyam's growth was remarkable and soon it spread its wings across the globe.
Image: B Ramalinga Raju, chairman, Satyam Computer Services, in his office in Hyderabad. | Photograph: PK/Reuters
Also read: Raju's letter to the board of directors
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