- February 3, 2024
Investors don’t have right to vote on CEO change: Byju’s – Times of India
MUMBAI: Even as major investors seek removal of Byju’s founder and group CEO Byju Raveendran from leadership position and reconstitution of the company’s board — which has pretty much been reduced to a family-run entity — Raveendran has given a clear indication that he is not going to step down from the top post. The company, instead, termed the investors’ move as conspiracy.
“We would emphasise that the shareholder’s agreement does not give them the right to vote on CEO or management change,” Byju’s said in a statement on Friday. In a separate email to employees, the company’s management said that the founders are the ‘largest investors and greatest fighters for Byju’s. “When investors hesitated to step up during harsh macroeconomic conditions, the founders personally invested over $1 billion in capital to keep our dream alive… certain investors, seeing the crisis we faced, saw it as an opportunity to conspire and demand the stepping down of our founder as the group CEO of Byju’s,” they said in the mail which was reviewed by TOI.
The cash-strapped startup, which failed to disburse salaries for the month of Jan to employees timely, blamed the situation on the “artificially induced crisis” by select investors. The management claimed that the salary disbursements will be paid in a phased manner and completed by Monday, adding that Raveendran had pledged his only house to ensure salary payments to employees over the past several months.
Byju’s said that since the launch of its $200 million rights issue on Jan 29, the firm has received commitments for more than 100% of the proposed amount. “It will ensure we have enough growth capital and also to meet all operational liabilities. This will mark the beginning of the final phase of our recovery,” the management told employees.
“We would emphasise that the shareholder’s agreement does not give them the right to vote on CEO or management change,” Byju’s said in a statement on Friday. In a separate email to employees, the company’s management said that the founders are the ‘largest investors and greatest fighters for Byju’s. “When investors hesitated to step up during harsh macroeconomic conditions, the founders personally invested over $1 billion in capital to keep our dream alive… certain investors, seeing the crisis we faced, saw it as an opportunity to conspire and demand the stepping down of our founder as the group CEO of Byju’s,” they said in the mail which was reviewed by TOI.
The cash-strapped startup, which failed to disburse salaries for the month of Jan to employees timely, blamed the situation on the “artificially induced crisis” by select investors. The management claimed that the salary disbursements will be paid in a phased manner and completed by Monday, adding that Raveendran had pledged his only house to ensure salary payments to employees over the past several months.
Byju’s said that since the launch of its $200 million rights issue on Jan 29, the firm has received commitments for more than 100% of the proposed amount. “It will ensure we have enough growth capital and also to meet all operational liabilities. This will mark the beginning of the final phase of our recovery,” the management told employees.
