What happens to Flipkart leadership after co-founder Binny Bansal's abrupt resignation?
Binny Bansal's resignation from Flipkart marks the exit of the last of the two venerable names who founded the Indian online retailer. But Walmart expressed confidence in the leadership structure and says the transition was in the works for some time.
Binny Bansal may have resigned from Flipkart following a probe into allegations of "serious personal misconduct", but the co-founder of the online retailer was considering the move for "some time" now, said US-based retailer Walmart, which acquired the Indian e-tailer earlier this year.
"Binny has been contemplating a transition for some time and we have been working together on a succession plan, which has now been accelerated," Walmart said in a statement earlier today.
The global retail giant said Flipkart continues to be in good hands, as it expressed confidence in the current leadership. Flipkart Chief Executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy, credited as the man behind the Flipkart buyout, will remain CEO of the company, which includes Myntra and Jabong continuing to operate as separate platforms within the Flipkart business, said Walmart.
"As we look ahead, we have full confidence in the strength and depth of leadership across the company. We remain committed to investing for the long-term and are supportive of the leadership team’s desire to evolve into a publicly-traded company in the future," Walmart added.
Earlier today, retail conglomerate Walmart said that Binny had denied the allegations of personal misconduct and that Walmart did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions after the investigation.
However, the probe did reveal other lapses in judgement particularly a lack of transparency, the company said, adding that ‘recent events risked becoming a distraction and Binny has made a decision to step down’
Sources in the know said Binny has been on "garden leave" for a few weeks.
Flipkart leadership remains intact
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the current Flipkart CEO, first joined the online retailer in 2013 as its interim chief financial officer, following which he joined Tiger Global as its finance director in 2014. He was earlier with eBay’s Asia finance operations. Kalyan became the CEO of Flipkart in January last year, mandated to turn around the company’s fate against rival Amazon.
Ananth Narayanan will continue providing great leadership as CEO of Myntra and Jabong, and will report into Kalyan. Ananth was earlier with consulting firm McKinsey & Company and came to Myntra as CEO in October of 2015.
Sameer Nigam will continue leading PhonePe as CEO, Walmart said. Sameer served as Senior Vice President of Engineering at Flipkart until August 2015. He co-founded PhonePe in December of 2015, which was subsequently acquired by Flipkart in April 2016.
Both Kalyan and Sameer will report directly into the board, Walmart said.
