Chidambaram unsuccessfully ran in the 2014 Indian General Election for the Sivaganga seat, losing to P. R. Senthilnathan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
[3] Karti Chidambaram is married to Srinidhi Rangarajan, a Bharathanatyam dancer and physician who works with the Apollo Hospitals Group in Chennai.
He has held the position of Chairman of the Organising Committee for Chennai Open and was a former vice-president of the All India Tennis Association.
He is a member of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative (ILI) of the Aspen Institute, Chairman of the Asia 21 India Chapter of The Asia Society, co-founder of the Chennai Chapter of Young Entrepreneurs Organisation, and co-founder of www.karuthu.com (an "Online Public Opinion Forum").
[10][11] In April 2015, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched the Bengaluru offices of Sequoia Capital India, the Indian subdivision of a Mauritius-based investment fund, in connection with a probe of Vasan Healthcare Group, which was partly owned by Karti Chidambaram.
[13] In a series of articles published in September and October 2015, the New Indian Express charged that Karti Chidambaram was the secret owner, or perhaps co-owner with his father, of a sprawling international network of companies.
The next day, Karti Chidambaram's father said, "We have made it clear, repeatedly, that no member of my family has any equity or economic interest in any of the firms that are being targeted.…I condemn the attempt to link them to my son and harass them on that ground.
"[15] The ED said it was probing a transaction between Karti Chidambaram and Aircel that had taken place immediately prior to the latter company's approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
[15] Newly discovered documents showed that Karti Chidambaram had "built a massive empire for himself through investments in real estate and other financial dealings across the world."
The fresh evidence revealed details of business deals in London, Dubai, South Africa, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, British Virgin Island, France, the US, Switzerland, Greece, and Spain.
[16] It was further revealed that Advantage Singapore, a subsidiary of Advantage, owned the following: 88 acres at Surridge Farm, Somerset; Cambridge-based Artevea Digital Ltd.; a majority stake in Lanka Fortune Residencies, which in turn owned several hotels; three farms and vineyards in South Africa; land in Thailand; part of BVI-based Full Innovations, Ltd.; a residential flat in Malaysia; franchises of Café Coffee Day in Malaysia; a Barcelona-based subsidiary, Advantage Estrategia Esportiva SLU; and a substantial percentage of the Pampelonn Organisation in France.
[17] On 1 March 2016, the upper house of India's parliament, the Rajya Sabha, adjourned after the AIADMK party demanded it take action against Karti Chidambaram for his business activities.
[citation needed] It was reported on 23 May 2016, that ED had sought information from the UK, UAE, South Africa, US, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and British Virgin Islands about properties and transactions of Advantage, Sequoia, WestBridge, and other firms purportedly linked to Karti Chidambaram.
The ED was investigating alleged violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the part of Advantage and Chess Global Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, of which Karti Chidambaram was a director.
The Madras High Court stayed the LOC against Karti Chidambaram stating that the issuance of the circular the day after issuing a summons to him was unwarranted.
[21] In August 2017, Karti Chidambaram appeared before the CBI in connection to a case involving FIPB approval of INX Media.
54 crore of Karti Chidambaram in India, Spain and the UK in connection with a money laundering case related to INX Media, an action termed "bizarre and outlandish" by him.