Rise and Fall of Satyam

The rise, rise and fall of Satyam   {draw:frame}   Wed, Jan 7 06:33 PM   Here is a brief history of the company, which was once a flagbearer of Cyberabad, as its headquarters and Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad were hailed in the early years of the IT boom in late 1990s.   Established: June 24, 1987   Global Headquarters: Hyderabad   Development Centres: Bangalore, Basingstoke, Beijing, Bhubaneswar, Budapest, California, Chennai, Chicago, Dalian, Georgia, Guangzhou, Gurgaon, Hartford, Hyderabad, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Mumbai, Munich, Mississauga, New Jersey, Ontario, Pune, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wiesbaden   Employee strength: 52,865 (including employees in subsidiaries and joint ventures) as on Sep 30, 2008   1991: Debuts on Bombay Stock Exchage with an IPO oversubscribed 17 times   1999: Satyam Infoway (Sify) becomes the first Indian Internet company listed on Nasdaq; presence established in 30 countries   2001: Listed on the New York Stock Exchange with trading name SAY   2006: Revenue exceeds $1 billion; sets up the first 'Global Innovation Hub' in Singapore and operations in Guangzhou, China   2008: Revenue crosses the $2-billion mark   2008 Dec 16: Announces plan to buy two Maytas firms; calls off the deal within hours in the face of shareholders' opposition; share price tumbles   Dec 18: Announces board meeting on Dec. 29 to consider share buyback as markets hammer the shares   Dec 28: Puts off board meet to Jan 10   Dec 29: Three more directors quit   2009 Jan 2: Founder-promoters stake falls from 8.64 percent to 5.13 percent as financial institutions with whom the entire stake was pledged dump the shares   Jan 6: Promoters' stake falls further as lenders offload more pledged shares
Think of Satyam Computer Services (Satyam) now and you can't help but recall the advice of the richest human on this planet, Warren Buffet: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.

If you think about that, you'll do things differently."... [continues]

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