Chicago tech CEO Sanjay Shah dies in tragic stage fall in India during company’s 25th anniversary celebration

Sanjay Shah, 55, CEO of suburban Chicago tech firm Vistex, died in a shocking fall in front of hundreds of attendees during the company’s 25th anniversary celebration Thursday at a movie studio stage in India.

A video of the bizarre accident shows Shah and Raju Datla, the company’s president, being lowered in a faux hot air balloon spewing decorative sparks when a cable holding the basket gave way and the two men plunged about 20 feet to the stage below. Shah died from his injuries while Datla remains hospitalized, the company said Monday.

“The company’s heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with Sanjay’s family and all those who knew Sanjay in both professional and personal capacities,” Vistex said in a statement. “Sanjay Shah was an extraordinary leader whose presence permeated the working life of every associate and colleague at Vistex. His leadership and presence were truly unique; Sanjay will be sorely missed by all.”

An Indian immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1988 to get his MBA at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University, Shah moved to Chicago in 1993 to work for software firm SAP. In 1999, Shah founded Hoffman Estates-based Vistex, which provides business software for companies such as Whirlpool, GM, Barilla and Bayer. Vistex has more than 2,000 employees and 20 offices worldwide, including one in Hyderabad, India, where the accident occurred.

The Vistex 25th anniversary celebration was held at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, a sprawling film studio and “thematic tourist destination” that also hosts corporate events. The venue did not return a request for comment Monday.

While Shah built a thriving tech business, he was perhaps best known in Chicago as the erstwhile owner of the Trump Tower penthouse, once the most expensive condo in the city.

Shah bought the 14,260-square-foot full-floor penthouse, which includes five bedrooms and a 360-degree view of the city, for $17 million in 2014, then a record for Chicago residential real estate. In 2019, Shah told the Tribune the penthouse deal took nearly two years to negotiate with the Trump Organization — mostly with Eric Trump — and the agreement included the signature of Donald Trump, who spoke to Shah only after it closed.

“When I made this investment, I had no inkling of what was to come,” Shah told the Tribune regarding the seller’s rise to political power.

A South Barrington resident, Shah never moved in or finished the penthouse space, but used it occasionally for social events, including his 50th birthday party.

He put the Trump Tower penthouse up for sale in September 2021 with a $30 million asking price. It sold in March 2022 for $20 million, notching a modest profit for the space after eight years of ownership.

A philanthropist, Shah started the Vistex Foundation in 2012, which provides grants to nonprofits focusing on health, education and basic needs. In 2020, the foundation-funded Vistex Hospital opened in rural Bihar, India, providing previously unavailable services to the community and becoming a model for its COVID-19 response.

In 2016, Shah donated $5 million to found the Vistex Institute for Executive Education, a continuing business education program at his alma mater, Lehigh University.

“Sanjay Shah was a visionary businessman who started a company from scratch and made it a huge success,” U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents the 8th Congressional District where Shah lived and worked, said in a statement. “Despite his success, Sanjay was an unassuming man dedicated more to his family and the community than anything else. Sanjay will be very sorely missed.”

Shah, who bootstrapped Vistex into an international company that went from zero to $250 million in annual revenue by its 20th anniversary, eschewed outside investment until 2019, when Silicon Valley private equity firm Accel-KKR provided $65 million to further his expansion plans.

Reflecting on his success, Shah said at the time he hoped to inspire other Chicago tech entrepreneurs and immigrants who followed in his footsteps.

“I was born in India, and I’m living the American dream,” Shah told the Tribune.

Kate Armanini contributed.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com