Zomato-parent Eternal's Deepinder Goyal to surrender ₹900-1,000 crore worth ESOPs upon resignation as CEO: Report

Online food-delivery giant Zomato-parent Eternal's founder, Deepinder Goyal, is set to surrender his employee stock options (ESOPs) worth around ₹900-1,000 crore as he resigned from his Chief Executive Officer (CEO) role on 21 January 2026, reported the news portal The Economic Times.

The agency report cited Eternal's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Akshant Goyal, who highlighted in the company's earnings call that Deepinder Goyal's ESOPs surrender will add 3.3 crore shares to the company's stock option pool, which currently has 20 crore shares.

“We have a large ESOP pool, which has north of about 20 crore shares...his (Deepinder's) ESOPs will perhaps expand the pool by 3.3 crore shares. Because the pool has expanded, we may not need to dilute our ESOPs again for slightly longer than what we would have otherwise done,” said Goyal, cited the news portal's report.

What's Deepinder's ESOPs worth today?

According to NSE data, based on Eternal shares at a closing price of ₹276.50, Deepinder Goyal's ESOPs (reportedly 3.3 crore shares) will be valued at nearly ₹912.45 crore as of 23 January 2026.

In a letter to the company shareholders, Deepinder Goyal said that as part of his transition, his ESOPs will be reverted to the company's ESOP pool in an effort for Eternal to ensure the firm's meaningful wealth-creation opportunities.

“As part of this transition, all of my unvested ESOPs will revert to the ESOP pool. This ensures that Eternal continues to have meaningful wealth-creation opportunities for its next generation of leaders, while strengthening long-term retention without incremental shareholder dilution,” said Goyal in his letter to the shareholders.

Eternal's leadership change

On 21 January 2026, Eternal's board of directors announced that MD and CEO Deepinder Goyal had tendered his resignation, citing his future plans to focus on other ventures which are “higher risk” in nature, a move, according to him, is not possible while heading a publicly listed company.

“I have found myself drawn to a set of new ideas that involve significantly higher-risk exploration and experimentation. These are the kinds of ideas that are better pursued outside a public company like Eternal,” said Goyal in his letter.

As Deepinder Goyal moves on towards a Vice Chairman and Director role, Albinder Singh Dhindsa, who was serving as the CEO of the company's Blinkit business, will take over the key managerial role.

Dhindsa's appointment is effective Sunday, 1 February 2026, the same as Goyal's stepping down date, subject to the approval of the shareholders.

Mint reported earlier that Eternal's net profit for the third quarter of the financial year ending 2025-26 recorded a 73% YoY jump to ₹102 crore, compared to ₹59 crore in the same period a year ago.

The company's revenue from core operations surged 201% to ₹16,315 crore in the third quarter of the financial year ending 2025-26, compared to ₹5,405 crore in the same period a year ago.