{{short description|Indian businessman and journalist}} {{For|the writer and author of ''Sacred Games''|Vikram Chandra (novelist)}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Vikram Chandra | image = Vikram Chandra (75ti7ItRdbk- 7m46s).png | caption = Chandra in 2022 | birth_name = Vikramaditya A. Chandra | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1967|01|07}} | birth_place = [[Delhi]], India | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = [[University of Delhi]]<br>[[Oxford University]] | occupation = [[Journalist]]<br>Founder; Editorji Technologies | other_names = Vikramaditya Chandra | status = | family = | spouse = Seema Chandra | children = | relatives = | credits = | website = }} '''Vikram Chandra''' (born 7 January 1967) is an Indian journalist, who founded Editorji Technologies, a multilingual video news platform. Chandra setup Editorji in October 2018, positioning it as a disruptive offering in the digital news space.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Editorji rides on AI; creates a brand safe environment for advertisers|work=ET Brand Equity|url=https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/media/editorji-rides-on-ai-creates-a-brand-safe-environment-for-advertisers/69966962}}</ref>
While [[HT Media]] and [[Bharti Airtel]] were among the early investors in editorji, in July 2020, the [[RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group|RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG)]] Group acquired 51 percent stake.<ref>{{Cite news|title=RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group acquires 51% stake in Vikram Chandra's Editorji|work=Financial Express|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/rp-sanjiv-goenka-group-acquires-51-stake-in-vikram-chandras-editorji/2024602/}}</ref>
At editorji, Chandra hosts some of its flagship programmes, including The ''India Story'', a weekly show that offers in-depth analysis on the big newsmakers from India. The 2021 Assembly Elections and the Covid-19 pandemic are some of the top stories that have been covered.<ref>{{Cite news|title=On News Guru {{!}} Should Bengal polls be curtailed? Derek O'Brien exclusive on editorji|work=editorji|url=https://www.editorji.com/story/on-news-guru-should-bengal-polls-be-curtailed-derek-o-brien-exclusive-on-editorji-1618581330722}}</ref>
Prior to Editorji, Chandra was the CEO of [[NDTV]] Group from 2011 to October 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/corporatepage/vikram_chandra.aspx|title=NDTV Corporate Page|date=11 Feb 2017|website=NDTV|access-date=11 Feb 2017}}</ref><ref name="BS-20110730">{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ndtv-rejigs-management-/444348/|title=NDTV rejigs management|last=Bhat|first=Varada|date=30 July 2011|work=Business Standard|publisher= Business Standard Ltd |access-date=15 July 2012|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref name="thesundayindian">{{cite web |url=http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/a-nose-for-news/96/19877/ |title=A nose for news – Mehnaz Nasreen and Rohit Manchanda |publisher=The Sunday Indian |access-date=28 September 2012 |archive-date=11 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311142206/http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/a-nose-for-news/96/19877/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He is considered among the leading journalists in India today.<ref name="chillibreeze">{{cite web |url=http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/Topfivejournalists.asp |title=Top Five Journalists in India |publisher=Chillibreeze.com |access-date=28 September 2012 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015090514/http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/Topfivejournalists.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chandra's reputation as a journalist was built while covering the [[Kashmir conflict]]. He is the former anchor for the ''Nine O'Clock News'' and was, until recently, host of ''Gadget Guru'' and anchor of ''The Big Fight''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Shuchi|last=Bansal|title=NDTV scores big with entertainment channel |url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=314137 |work=[[Business Standard]] |date=19 February 2008 |access-date=31 August 2008 }}</ref><ref name="e4m">{{cite news|url=http://www.exchange4media.com/news/story.aspx?Section_id=6&News_id=42972 |title=I will still do the 'Big Fight': Vikram Chandra |publisher=Exchange4media.com |date=1 August 2011 |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="coolage2">{{cite news|url=http://www.coolage.in/2012/08/30/a-rendezvous-with-mr-vikram-chandra-part-2/ |title=Kargil was a very emotional experience: Vikram Chandra – CoolAge |publisher=Coolage.in |date=30 August 2012 |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref>
Currently Vikram Chandra is the Founder & Managing Director of Editorji Technologies.
==Early life and career== Chandra is the son of [[Indian Administrative Service|IAS officer]] Mr. Yogesh Chandra and his wife Nandini Chandra, a journalist with ''[[Hindustan Times|The Hindustan Times]].''<ref name=thesundayindian /> He is an alumnus of [[The Doon School]], where he was the editor of [[The Doon School Weekly]]. After his schooling, Chandra attended [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]] and received a bachelor's degree in Economics.<ref name=thesundayindian /><ref name=coolage1>{{cite news |url=http://www.coolage.in/2012/08/30/a-rendezvous-with-mr-vikram-chandra/ |title=A rendezvous with Mr. Vikram Chandra – CoolAge |publisher=Coolage.in |date=30 August 2012 |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005075301/http://www.coolage.in/2012/08/30/a-rendezvous-with-mr-vikram-chandra |archive-date=5 October 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He later studied at [[Oxford]] on an Inlaks Scholarship.<ref name=thesundayindian /><ref name=coolage2 /> He has also done a three-month course in mass media at [[Stanford University]].<ref name=thesundayindian /><ref name=coolage2 /> He is married to Seema Chandra.<ref name=thesundayindian />
Chandra began his career in television journalism in 1991 working with a TV news magazine called ''Newstrack''.<ref name=thesundayindian /> He has been with [[NDTV|New Delhi Television Limited]] since 1994.<ref name=thesundayindian /> During these years, he worked on the prime time ''9 O'Clock News'', ''Gadget Guru'' (with [[Rajiv Makhni]]), which was a review show about new technologies. He is best known for his award-winning anchor position on ''The Big Fight'', which is one of India's top rated talk and current affairs shows.<ref name=thesundayindian />
In 2000 Chandra was instrumental in setting up NDTV.com, which became one of the top websites in the country. In 2007, he was named CEO of NDTV Networks, and in 2011 he was named as the CEO of the NDTV group.<ref name=convergence>{{cite web|author=25 August 2009 – 2:09PM |url=http://paidcontent.org/2009/08/25/419-vikram-chandra-is-ceo-suparna-singh-named-deputy-ceo-at-ndtv-convergenc/ |title=Vikram Chandra Is CEO, Suparna Singh Named Deputy CEO at NDTV Convergence – paidContent |publisher=Paidcontent.org |date=25 August 2009 |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref> He resigned from NDTV in 2016 to found 'editorji' <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.exchange4media.com/media-tv-news/vikram-chandra-to-launch-editorjihis-new-startup-88742.html|quote=The start-up is called Editorji and deals with harnessing robotics and AI for news genre.|title=Vikram Chandra to launch Editorji, his new startup|author=Ramarko|date=2019-05-03|language=en|access-date=2019-12-11}}</ref> and was replaced as NDTV CEO by K V L Narayan Rao who had already had one stint as NDTV's CEO in the past. In August 2019, he was named in a FIR along with the NDTV co-founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, for alleged FDI norms violation by the CBI.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ndtv-s-roys-former-ceo-booked-for-alleged-fdi-norms-violation-119082100534_1.html|title=NDTV's Prannoy Roy, wife, former CEO booked for alleged FDI norms violation|agency=Press Trust of India|date=21 August 2019|via=Business Standard}}</ref> NDTV called the FIR an act of vendetta against the free press, and Chandra said he seemed to have been named by mistake. Separately, Chandra was fined Rs 6,67,000 by SEBI in November 2020, and was barred from the securities market, along with some other NDTV employees.<ref>{{cite news |last1=News |first1=MoneyLife |title=Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, Vikram Chandra, others barred from capital market for insider trading of NDTV shares: Read details |url=https://www.moneylife.in/article/ndtv-insider-trading-disgorge-money-earned-says-sebi-bars-prannoy-roy-radhika-roy-vikram-chandra-and-whistleblower-sanjay-dutt-from-markets/62229.html |access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref> He appealed the order in SAT, which stayed the SEBI order in December.
Chandra's first work of fiction, the thriller ''The Srinagar Conspiracy'', was published in 2000 and became a best seller. Chandra received acclaim for his familiarity with [[Kashmir]], where the book is set, and his use of the English language.<ref name=e4m />
==Notable assignments== As a reporter, Chandra was assigned to Kashmir, where he reported on war and conflict. Chandra had an exclusive footage of the army camps at the Saltoro Heights in [[Siachen conflict|Siachen]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/my-life-my-style-vikram-chandra-ceondtv/445673/|title=My Life My Style: Vikram Chandra, CEO of NDTV|newspaper=Business Standard India |date=13 August 2011 |publisher=Business-standard.com|access-date=28 September 2012|last1=Sangghvi |first1=Malavika }}</ref>
As the anchor of ''The Big Fight'' (NDTV), Chandra has interviewed King [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia]] in 2006,<ref name=evworld>{{cite web|url=http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=10781 |title=Saudi King Abdullah Begins Asian Tour, Signaling Shift in Foreign Policy: #evworld |publisher=Evworld.com |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref> [[Bill Gates]] in 2012,<ref name=ndtv>{{cite web|url=http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-steve-jobs-and-i-are-quite-different-bill-gates-296677 |title=Steve Jobs and I are quite different: Bill Gates - NDTVProfit.com |publisher=Profit.ndtv.com |date=28 January 2012 |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref> [[Shimon Peres]],{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} and [[Rupert Murdoch]].{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} He also interviewed [[Tim Cook]], the CEO of [[Apple Inc.]] in May 2016, during the latter's visit to India. In 2018, he interviewed former [[United States of America|U.S.]] [[Vice President of the United States|Vice-President]] [[Al Gore]] during the [[World Economic Forum]] in [[Davos]].
Chandra has been active in public interest media campaigns in India. He has worked on several "Greenathons," which is a media campaign to expand the electrical system to rural areas and finance solar lanterns to bring light to homes.<ref name=coolage2 /> He has also been active in the "Save our Tigers" campaign to stop poaching. He is also very popular among scholars for his significant contribution to various social and political themes.<ref name=coolage2 />
==Awards== In 2007, Chandra received the designation "Global Leader for Tomorrow" from the World Economic Forum in Davos when he was selected as a "Young Global Leader."<ref name=thesundayindian /><ref name=oneindia>{{cite news|author=Social Post |url=https://www.oneindia.com/2007/01/17/omar-says-honoured-to-be-named-young-global-leader-1169041427.html |title=Omar says honoured to be named young global leader | India – Oneindia News |publisher=Oneindia |date=17 January 2007 |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref> He has twice won the Hero Honda Indian Television Academy Award for Best Anchor for a Talk Show for ''The Big Fight'' in 2005 and 2008<ref name=thesundayindian /><ref name=ita2005>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiantelevisionacademy.com/site/awards_hhita_details_new.php?year=2005|title=2005 |website=IndianTelevisionAcademy.com |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504215552/http://www.indiantelevisionacademy.com/site/awards_hhita_details_new.php?year=2005 |archive-date=4 May 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=ita2008>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiantelevisionacademy.com/site/awards_hhita_details_new.php?year=2008 |title=2008|website=IndianTelevisionAcademy.com |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820113249/http://www.indiantelevisionacademy.com/site/awards_hhita_details_new.php?year=2008 |archive-date=20 August 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and the Teacher's Achievement Award for Communication,<ref name=coolage1 /> amongst other coveted recognitions.
==References== {{Reflist|32em}}
==External links== * {{twitter|vikramchandra}}
{{New Delhi Television Limited}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Vikram A}} [[Category:1967 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:NDTV Group]] [[Category:Journalists from Delhi]] [[Category:The Doon School alumni]] [[Category:St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]] [[Category:Stanford University alumni]] [[Category:Indian broadcast news analysts]] [[Category:Indian male journalists]] [[Category:Indian television journalists]] [[Category:Indian television presenters]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Delhi]]