2022-03-01 08:37:47
Ashneer Grover says investigation a sham, seeks to learn from Nithin Kamath and Bhavin Turakhia to build bootstrapped firmsGrover once again targets company chairman Rajnish Kumar, asking why the investigation did not remain confidential
The boardroom battle that has played out in one of India's youngest companies, BharatPe, over the last month has been anything but pleasant.
While the outcome of an internal investigation against co-founder Ashneer Grover and his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, are still awaited, Grover on March 1 resigned as the managing director and director of the fintech firm.
The move came ahead of a board meeting slated later that day or March 2, with the board asking Grover to be present.
In an interview to Moneycontrol, Grover called the whole process a sham and asked the company's chairman Rajnish Kumar, the former SBI chief, why the investigation did not remain confidential?
"The whole process is a sham. You have decided what you want. There is no consideration for any process. You are just going after me, my wife, my whole family. Have you even called me once? Have the investors even spoken to me even once? What kind of a process is this where the chairman of SBI can't run a confidential process for a month," Grover told Moneycontrol.
Grover also said that he would look at founders who have had the "courage to build businesses with 100 percent ownership". Grover holds a 9.5 percent stake in BharatPe.
"I am now looking up to people like Turakhia (Bhavin) and Kamath (Nitin) who have (had) the courage to build businesses with 100 percent ownership. It will take a bit longer to build. I will be in control of what I build and not build it for these people who are opportunistic," he added.
Grover's resignation also comes close on the heels of Madhuri being sacked as BharatPe's Head of Controls. In a two-page resignation letter, Grover alleged that he and his family were at the receiving end of baseless targeted attacks.
In his letter, he has also took on investors, accusing them of treating founders as slaves.
"You treat us Founders as slaves—pushing us to build multi-billion-dollar businesses and cutting us down at will. Investor-Founder relation in India is one of Master-Slave. I am the rebel slave who must be hung by the tree so none of the other slaves can dare to be like me ever again," the letter read.
Also Read: Here's the BharatPe journey, seen through Ashneer Grover's eyes
As reported by Moneycontrol on February 27, Grover's emergency arbitration plea challenging the firm's decision to conduct a governance review has been rejected by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
In his resignation letter, Grover wrote, "From being celebrated as the face of Indian entrepreneurship and an inspiration to the Indian youth to build their own businesses, I am now wasting myself fighting a long, lonely battle against my own investors and management. Unfortunately, in this battle, the management has lost of what is actually at stake–BharatPe."
On January 28, BharatPe said it had hired Alvarez to conduct a governance review of the company. The next week, it confirmed roping in PwC as well.
Moneycontrol also reported on February 7 that the decision to bring PwC after hiring Alvarez was a step towards terminating the services of Grover and Madhuri, as they could only be ousted if a Big 4 audit firm indicted them.
According to a preliminary report by Alvarez, inconsistencies were found in dealings with vendors. The report had flagged payments to vendors and consultants that were non-existent.
Allegations and counter-allegations have become the norm at BharatPe. Soon after an embattled Grover launched an attack against Rajnish Kumar and co-founder Bhavik Koladiya alleging that the governance review was riddled with prejudice, the company accused him of spreading false information which it said was not appropriate for a managing director.
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