Netflix has released the fifth episode of its documentary series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires: India’, spotlighting Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, the former chairman of Satyam Computer Services and the central figure behind one of India’s biggest corporate frauds.
Titled ‘Riding the Tiger’, the episode revisits the rise and dramatic fall of Raju, whose confession in 2009 triggered the collapse of Satyam and sent shockwaves through India’s corporate and financial ecosystem.
Who is Ramalinga Raju?
Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, born on 16 September 1954, is an Indian businessman and convicted corporate fraudster. He founded Satyam Computer Services in 1987 and served as its chairman and CEO until 2009.
Raju resigned after admitting to manipulating Satyam’s financial statements and embezzling Rs 7,136 crore, including more than Rs 5,000 crore of non-existent cash and bank balances. The scandal later came to be known as the Satyam scam, often referred to as “India’s Enron.”
Early life and education
Raju was born in Andhra Pradesh and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada. He later completed an MBA from Ohio University in the United States.
After returning to India in the late 1970s, he ventured into multiple businesses, including hotels, spinning mills and real estate, before eventually entering the technology sector.
Building Satyam Computer Services
In 1987, Raju co-founded Satyam Computer Services in Secunderabad with just 20 employees. The company grew rapidly during India’s IT boom, winning global clients such as John Deere and listing on Indian stock exchanges in the early 1990s.
Raju also attended Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management (OPM) programme and launched Satyam Infoway (Sify) in 1999, making Satyam an early player in India’s internet services space.
At its peak, Satyam was one of India’s largest IT services firms, operating in dozens of countries and employing tens of thousands of people.
Business and political influence
During the 1990s, Raju emerged as a key figure in Andhra Pradesh’s IT push under then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He played a role in shaping the state’s early technology initiatives and enjoyed close access to political leadership, highlighting the deep overlap between business and politics at the time.
The Satyam accounting scandal
In January 2009, Raju shocked investors by admitting that Satyam’s books had been falsified for years. Revenues, profits and cash balances were inflated, while auditors allegedly certified figures that did not exist.
In a now-famous letter to the board, Raju wrote that what began as a small gap in profits spiralled out of control, describing the situation as “riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.”
The revelation wiped out shareholder wealth and severely damaged confidence in India’s corporate governance standards.
Arrest, conviction and sentencing
Following the confession, Raju and several others were arrested on charges including cheating, conspiracy and falsification of records. Authorities attached dozens of properties linked to the promoter family.
In April 2015, a special CBI court convicted Ramalinga Raju and sentenced him to seven years in prison, along with a fine of Rs 5.5 crore. He was later granted bail while appeals continued.
Aftermath and legacy
Satyam was eventually taken over by Tech Mahindra in 2009 and rebranded as Mahindra Satyam, helping stabilise the company and protect thousands of jobs.
The scandal led to tighter corporate governance norms, regulatory reforms and, in 2018, a two-year ban on Price Waterhouse from auditing listed companies in India for its alleged role in the fraud.
Why Netflix revisited the story
Netflix’s fifth episode revisits the Satyam scam as a landmark moment in India’s corporate history, drawing from court records and public documents. The episode’s release comes after a five-year legal battle, during which Raju had challenged its broadcast on privacy grounds.
With its release, the series closes a long-running legal chapter while reopening public debate on accountability, governance and the lasting impact of one of India’s biggest financial scandals.
