All is not well at edutech company Byjus. Three board members of Byjus have resigned due to differences with the company’s founder Byju Raveendran. He had differences with Raveendran on operational issues. This information has been given in a media report. According to this report, GV Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital (now Peak XV Partners), Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Russell Dresenstock of Process have resigned from the board. Apart from this, Deloitte Hawkins & Sells has resigned from the post of Byju’s auditor with immediate effect. Byjus has now appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as the auditors.
Now Raveendran himself, brother and wife are left on the board
Ravishankar, Wu, Dresdenstock, Riju Raveendran, Baiju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath are on the board of directors of Baiju. Ravi Shankar, Wu and Dresenstock are non-executive directors. It has been said in media reports that his resignation has not been accepted yet. Baiju Raveendran, his brother Riju Raveendran and his wife Divya Gokulnath are now on the board of the company. Media quoted sources close to shareholders as saying that since last year there have been differences between the founders and the board over how to run the company.
Board members did not listen
There were also differences over the way Baiju Raveendran was negotiating with the lenders’ management, the source said. The founders didn’t listen to board members and investors, and there was no transparency in how the company was run. They didn’t trust each other.
A big blow to the most valuable startup
The sudden resignation of the board members and auditor is a big blow to the country’s most valuable startup. Byjus has roped in Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. The company is also at loggerheads with its lenders in the US and is facing a growing financial crisis. Half of the company’s board has resigned. This indicates a crisis at the operational and financial level in the company. In the financial year 2021, Byjus has suffered a huge loss of Rs 4500 crore.
