Pursuits
Billionaire Bass Backs India Startup Over Mutual Taste for Tea
- Bass started as a customer and became an investor in Teabox
- Founder Dugar learned the tea trade from his father in India
Pluckers pick tea leaves at the Simulbari Tea Estate outside of Siliguri in India.
Photographer: Sanjit Das/Sanjit Das/PanosThis article is for subscribers only.
The unusual partnership between a Texas billionaire and an Indian entrepreneur began with a mutual appreciation for tea.
Robert M. Bass, the storied 67-year-old investor, disliked the bitterness of coffee but had a hard time finding a good cup of tea. Kaushal Dugar, a 32-year-old who grew up in the tea country of northeastern India, was trying to bring modern practices like online sales to centuries-old plantations.