Robert Viswanathan Chandran (31 May 1950 – 7 January 2008) was an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n-born

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

an business executive, and the founder and CEO of the Chemoil company.

Early life and education

Chandran was born in 1950 in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

to a chemist father. Due to financial problems, the family moved to Coimbatore when Chandran was nine.Arnold, Wayne: , ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', 9 March 2007. Chandran unsuccessfully applied to study medicine at the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

but instead undertook a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in chemistry. Following the death of his mother, Chandran left

in 1972 and lived in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

where he attended the

Asian Institute of Management The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is an international management school and research institution. It is one of the few business schools in Asia to be internationally accredited with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Busines ...

and earned his MBA. In 1976, Chandran emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

with his Filipino-American wife Vivian.

Career

Chandran first made his fortune in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, investing in real estate in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. In 1981, he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen, and in the same year, he founded Chemoil, a chemical and oil trading company specializing in ship-fueling. By 1991, Chemoil was listed by ''

'' as one of the United States' largest

private companies A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

, although a blow to the company's fortunes following a global downturn in shipping after the ''

Exxon Valdez ''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wi ...

'' disaster forced a major restructure and refinancing. In 2005, Chandran moved himself and the company to a base in

to more easily capitalize on the Asian shipping market.

Personal life

Chandran was married to Vivian and had two children. Chandran moved his family to Singapore after watching a Singapore National Day Rally on television. He relinquished his U.S. citizenship and became a Singaporean in 2005. Chandran died on 7 January 2008 from injuries sustained when the helicopter in which he was travelling crashed in the

Riau Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of Sumatra along the Strait of Malacca. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south. Acco ...

province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. News of his death caused Chemoil's share price to drop by around 16 per cent.Singapore Hot Stocks-Chemoil slips on CEO's death

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, 8 January 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandran, Robert 1950 births 2008 deaths American chief executives Asian Institute of Management alumni Businesspeople from Mumbai Indian chief executives Indian emigrants to Singapore People who renounced United States citizenship Singaporean chief executives Singaporean people of Tamil descent Tamil businesspeople Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2008 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Indonesia Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents