From education in Harvard to Fox's 'Hulu' launch, know 10 things about Block Incs's Amrita Ahuja
2 min read 24 Mar 2023, 06:27 AM ISTThe CFO of Block Inc's Amrita Ahuja was also accused in the Hindenbur report of dumping millions of dollar in the company stock. Know all about the Indian-origin CFO of Jack Dorsey's firm
PremiumAfter accusations made by short-seller Hindenburg Research against Block Inc, formerly known as Square Inc, its shares tumbled by 15% on Thursday. The report suggested the firm of overstating its user numbers and understated its customer acquisitions costs. The short-seller report also alleged that Block Inc's finance chief Amrita Ahuja dumped million of dollars in stock.
After the release of Hindenburg report, Amrita Ahuja had insured analysts that Block Inc will hold its stated profit targets for 2023. “Amidst this uncertainty, we intend to hold to our stated profit targets for 2023. If growth slows, we'll exercise discipline and look for cost initiatives to pull back," Amrita Ahuja said on a call with analysts.
Key allegations made by Hindenbur Research
According to the Hindneburg report, former Block employees estimated that 40% and 75% of accounts they reviewed were fake, involved in fraud, or they were additional accounts tied to a single individual.
Immediately after the release of report on Thursday, the company lost 14% of its shares in the stock market. Persistent loss of share value of the company would lead to its steepest percentage fall since March 2020.
Who is Block Inc's CFO Amrita Ahuja?
-Amrita Ahuja has a 22 years of experience of work in companies like Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Company, Fox Networks Group, etc.
-She joined the California-based Block Inc in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer, and became its Chief Operating Officer in February this year.
Also read: Jack Dorsey’s wealth tumbles $526 mn after Hindenburg accuses Block of fraud, misleading investors
-During her latest interview, Amrita Sinha talked about Block Inc's profit earned in 2022. She stated that the company made record gross profit of $6 billion last year. She also claimed the customers of Square and Cash app earned high profit during the year.
- She completed her higher education from USA's reputed colleges like the London School of Economics, Duke University, and Harvard Business School.
-She is the daughter of Indian immigrants who owned a day care cenre in a suburb of Cleveland, Wall Street Journal reported.
-According to reports, the biggest factor which drew Amrita to Square was its focus on empowering small-business owners like her parents.
-She has handled strategy and finance roles also at Walt Disney Co., News Corp's former Fox division, and Activision Blizzard Inc.
-During her leadership role in Fox, she led the launch of its streaming platform Hulu.
-At the gaming and entertainment company, Activation Blizzard, she played a key role in transforming its business model from one dominated by in-store sales around the holidays to one defined by an online, always-on, multiplayer experience, reported HT citing WSJ report. Activision Blizzard has made some globally popular games like “Call of Duty", “Candy Crush" and “World of Warcraft".
-During her tenure at Square, now known as Block Inc., the company helped small business and stores in forming their digital presence to survive during the fall in foot fall due to COVID pandemic.
