Arnab Goswami recently bought bulk of Republic TV’s shares owned by BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, whose media entity Asianet News Media & Entertainment is now a minority stakeholder in Republic TV.
The development was widely projected as the new identity of Goswami as someone who will no longer have any BJP influence in his editorial since he had bought back his shares from Chandrasekhar. Republic TV, it was claimed, will now be completely editor-controlled company.
Chandrasekhar had severed his ties with Republic TV, which he launched with Arnab Goswami in 2017. Explaining his decision to resign from the board, Chandrasekhar had said that he took ‘this decision because of my recent joining of BJP and being elected as a BJP MP.’
His decision had made him a target of widespread trolling from those who asked him about his investment in Republic TV. Even though, Chandrasekhar has sold most of his shares back to Goswami, he will continue to own shares in Republic TV.
Chandrasekhar said in a statement, “I am pleased with the growth and success of Republic and Arnab. I am happy to have invested in the vision of building a strong media-tech platform and Brand. Republic becomes another successful brand amongst many that I have helped build. This has also been a successful investment in financial terms.”
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP’s decision to sell most of his Republic TV shares did not go down well with social media users with many concluding that this was the sign of BJP’s defeat in this year’s Lok Sabha polls. While others hailed the Republic TV founder for his extraordinary success in such a short time.
???even before fall of Modi& goons ,Chandrasekhar started to sell his share in Republic TV ? A big sympathy to Great Arnab who will start his Man ki bat pic.twitter.com/clqaoCMPgU
— T.K Mukundan (@mukundan_the) May 7, 2019
When you are on the right side of Establishment:
You break even in year 1
You turnaround in Year 2
You buyback your largest investor in Year 3
Startups must learn to align smart. Learn from the Entreprenuer in Chief.https://t.co/XZY9f51a56— Maheshwer Peri (@maheshperi) May 6, 2019
Arnab Goswami buys back Republic Media shares fromAsianet….How Sad no congratulatory message from @BJP4India @narendramodihttps://t.co/LWnRqwpzTA
— The Angry Buddha (@TheAngryBuddha1) May 7, 2019
Goswami launched Republic TV English in 2017 as the channel become the market leader right from its launch by toppling Times Now before it was replaced by DD News. Goswami also launched Republic Bharat this year with the channel becoming a strong contender to replace the existing market leader Aaj Tak.
Chandrasekhar’s Asianet has said that it will continue to support Goswami’s Republic TV as a minority investor. Republic TV’s worth is now being stated to be close to Rs 1200 crore.
