Flipkart moves to soothe employee nerves after Binny Bansal’s exit

Binny Bansal stepped down as Flipkart CEO on Tuesday. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

New Delhi: A day after Binny Bansal stepped down as Group CEO following allegations of personal misconduct, Flipkart team heads are extensively engaging with employees to address their concerns and queries arising in view of the surprise development.

According to sources, department heads at the e-commerce giant have been engaging with their teams to answer queries and address concerns related to business and operations after Bansal’s exit.

Walmart, Flipkart’s parent entity, on Tuesday issued a statement saying Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal had resigned as the group chief executive officer.

The cryptic statement said an independent investigation had been conducted against Bansal following allegations of serious personal misconduct but gave no details about the nature of the misconduct and findings of the probe for which a global law firm had been engaged. It gave a clean chit to Bansal stating that the probe “did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions” against him.

According to multiple sources, this was the second time that the issue against Bansal had been raised. They said the matter was first flagged three years ago. However, it was not clear if any action was taken back then. In July this year, the complainant — an associate engaged with Flipkart and now working independently — reached out to Walmart, following which the investigation was set up, they said.

Sources said Walmart , which had picked up 77% stake in the Bengaluru-based firm for $16 billion, was upset that this development had not been disclosed when the deal discussions were on.

Binny, 37, strongly denied the charges and said he was “stunned” by the allegations. He had added that while he had stepped down from the lead role, he would continue to remain a large shareholder and board member of the company that he co-founded 11 years ago with Sachin Bansal (who exited Flipkart after selling his entire shares as part of the deal). Binny had been appointed group CEO in January last year. In his email to employees on Tuesday, Binny said he had been mulling over the right time to step away from an operating role at Flipkart Group for some time.

“My plan was to continue in my current role for a few more quarters to continue the transition after closing the deal with Walmart. However, my decision to step down has been accelerated by certain personal events that have taken place in the recent past,” he wrote in his email.

Binny’s exit after that of co-founder Sachin Bansal (not related) has raised questions around leadership and the course of action over the next few months for the company, which is locked in an intense battle with American rival Amazon.

Walmart said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart CEO and former Tiger Global Management executive, and Sameer Nigam, CEO, PhonePe (Flipkart’s payments arm), will report directly to the board.

Also, Flipkart’s operations will now include fashion portals Myntra and Jabong, even though they would continue to operate as separate platforms. Ananth Narayanan will continue as CEO of Myntra and Jabong and will report to Krishnamurthy. Sources indicated that further rejig of roles could be on the cards soon.

Also read: Opinion | Binny Bansal’s exit shows why start-ups must pay attention to governance early

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed