Byju Raveendran | Mango Bunch

Byju Raveendran intends to fight back against the shareholders who voted to oust him

Sneha Sengupta — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 17:41:06 +0000

The CEO of Byju’s, formerly the most valuable startup in India, Byju Raveendran, gave his staff assurances that he still has authority over the business he started and that he intends to fight against the shareholders who voted to remove him.

“Contrary to what you may have read in the media, I continue to remain CEO, the management remains unchanged, and the board remains the same,” Raveendran wrote in a letter. “I am not taking any of these allegations lying down and will challenge these illegal and prejudicial actions.”

At least twenty investors, including those from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Prosus Ventures, General Atlantic, and Peak XV Partners, attended the conference.

The extraordinary emergency meeting that took place on Friday, during which shareholders also decided to rebuild the company’s board, has been declared void by Byju’s.

These events highlight the tumultuous relationship that exists between Byju’s and its investors, following the announcement by the ailing edtech company of a $200 million rights issue that would dilute the shares of investors who choose not to participate by 99%.

“To reemphasize, the rumours of my firing have been greatly exaggerated and highly inaccurate,” Raveendran further stated “claims made by a small group of select minority shareholders that they have unanimously passed the resolution in the EGM is completely wrong.”

He went on to say that the EGM was a “farce” because just 35 out of 170 shareholders, or around 45% of shareholders, had voted in favor of the proposals during the meeting.

According to the company’s articles of association, the EGM needs a “proper quorum,” which is comprised of at least one founder-director. Raveendran said that this was not the case. In addition, he stated that the resolutions approved by “a select, narrow group of shareholders” were unlawful due to “numerous procedural irregularities and deficiencies.”

Byju’s investors cast vote to remove CEO after staff hindered the Zoom call

Sneha Sengupta — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:10:38 +0000

Byju Raveendran is acting in a more desperate manner to maintain the company’s viability.

Prosus NV and Peak XV Partners, two of Byju’s largest investors, voted on Friday to remove the company’s founder from his position as CEO, intensifying the conflict over the future of the formerly successful online tutoring startup that is struggling to stay in business.

The company said in a statement on Friday that Byju’s had rejected the resolutions, which also attempted to remove Byju Raveendran from the board of the business he created in 2015.

“The resolutions passed during the recently concluded extraordinary general meeting – attended by a small cohort of select shareholders – are invalid and ineffective,” mentioned in a statement.

According to two people who attended, the shareholders made their choice following a boisterous, hour-long Zoom session for investors and management on Friday that many Byju’s employees attempted to disrupt. The people, who wished to remain anonymous because they were having a private conversation, claimed that unidentified attendees attempted multiple times to sabotage the meeting’s activities by making loud sounds and whistling.

After the company failed to make an interest payment on a $1.2 billion debt, the pioneer of online education, Byju’s, and its creditors have been embroiled in a protracted restructuring dispute. The default resulted in the company’s unit filing for bankruptcy in the US.

After growing the company too quickly during the pandemic, Raveendran, whose rise from tutor to the head of a once $22 billion corporation, charmed a nation enamored of charismatic digital entrepreneurs. Now, he is resorting to increasingly desperate methods to keep the company viable. When demand for online tutoring declined as schools resumed, Byju’s was taken off balance.

In order to obtain money for staff salaries, Raveendran has pledged his home and those held by his family members, and some board members have resigned. In order to acquire money, it is also offering fresh stock for sale at a discount of almost 90% from its previous investment round.

Byju’s co-founder Raveendran wrote a letter to its staff addressing salary transfers

Sneha Sengupta — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 15:39:29 +0000

Co-founder and CEO of the struggling edtech startup Byju Raveendran informed staff members on Sunday that their salary for January had been credited sooner than anticipated.

“I know you were told that you will get your salaries by Monday… But you did not have to wait even till Monday. I have been moving mountains for months to make payroll, and this time, the struggle was even bigger to ensure that you receive what you rightfully deserve,” Raveendran stated in a written letter to its employees on Sunday.

Salary for Byju’s is ₹70 crore each month, as per a Moneycontrol article.

In FY22, its total expenses came to ₹13,668 crore. Through a rights offering, the business hopes to raise $200 million from investors at a valuation of $200–225 million, which is roughly 99% less than its peak valuation of $22 billion.

Byju’s has been firing workers while repeatedly postponing the complete and final payout of those workers. According to reports, the corporation started a reduction effort in October to cut between 3,000 and 3,500 employees.

“I am not implying that these challenges have not shaken me. Entrepreneurs are supposed to be stoic and steadfast. They indeed have an irrational capacity to suffer and the ability to eventually prevail over all that pain. But they, too, laugh, cry, work, weep and bleed the same way as any other person navigating the joys and complexities of life. They, too, hope and worry about what tomorrow might bring. They, too, hug their kids when they get scared,” he penned down.

A proposal for an extraordinary general meeting was made by a few of the company’s investors last week, including General Atlantic, Prosus Ventures, Peak XV, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The proposal asked for a change in the company’s leadership, including the dismissal of Raveendran. They also demanded that the board of the business be reconstituted.

“Nothing has galvanized our team more than their effort to destabilize our company,” he said.

“The world reads regularly about my daily struggles. But I will someday tell you about my monthly miracles. Over time, I believe that a hidden miracle accompanies every struggle; one has to keep moving forward,” Raveendran added in the letter.

“During good times and bad, it comes down to people. It always comes down to people,” he wrapped up.