The series of events that led to Ashneer Grover’s resignation from BharatPe
Mar 2, 2022, 07:00 IST
- Ashneer Grover’s resignation from the board and management of BharatPe.
- It all started with a leaked audio, where Grover was allegedly heard hurling abuses at a Kotak Mahindra employee.
- He continues to be the largest individual shareholder at BharatPe with 9.5% shareholding.
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Ashneer Grover’s resignation from the board and management of BharatPe has been the top news from the Indian startup ecosystem on Tuesday. The company was among the youngest unicorns of India, but it has been surrounded by controversies ever since it entered its fourth year of operations.It all started with a leaked audio, where Grover was allegedly heard hurling abuses at a Kotak Mahindra Employee for not being able to finance Nykaa’s IPO allotment for him and his wife Madhuri Jain. One thing led to another and Grover had to resign from BharatPe.
Here is how one of the biggest boardroom fights in India’s corporate history panned out over the past few months:
| Date | Event |
| March 2018 | BharatPe was founded by Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya. Ashneer Grover, an angel investor in the company, came onboard as a cofounder. |
| January 5, 2022 | An anonymous Twitter handle called “Bongo babu” shared a soundcloud link to an audio clip, where Grover was allegedly heard hurling abuses at an employee of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The conflict happened because Kotak Mahindra Bank was allegedly unable to get Nykaa’s IPO allotment for Grover and his wife, the audio clip revealed. |
| January 6, 2022 | Grover claimed that the audio clip circulating on social media was fake and someone was trying to exhort $240,000 in bitcoin from him. He later deleted the tweet thread after the audio was taken off SoundCloud. |
| January 9, 2022 | Media reports revealed that Grover and his wife had sent a legal notice to Kotak Mahindra Bank on October 31, 2021 for failing to provide financing in Nykaa’s IPO. The bank said that they will take “appropriate legal action” against Grover over the content of the audio clip. |
| January 17, 2022 | A report by The Economic Times has relieved that previously there was a brawl between Grover and Sequoia India’s Harshjit Sethi as well as the investment firm was looking to take a step back from the company’s upcoming funding round. The report was based on email exchange between the two in august 2021. |
| January 19, 2022 | Ashneer Grover was sent on voluntary leave till the end of March, 2022. |
| January 29, 2022 | The board of BharatPe decided to conduct an independent audit of the company’s internal processes and systems. |
| January 30, 2022 | Grover hired a Delhi-based law firm alleging that the company pressured him to quit. |
| February 4, 2022 | Media reports suggested that the preliminary audit has revealed certain fraudulent transactions in recruitment and payments to non-existent vendors. Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain’s name was being linked to these transactions. Grover had also sought removal of CEO Suhail Sameer’s removal from the board. |
| February 5, 2022 | Ashneer Grover had demanded ₹4,000 crore in exchange for his 9.5% stake in the company. The company later rejected the demand. |
| February 10, 2022 | Jain had written to Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), who conducted the independent audit. She questioned the consulting firm about the recent media leaks, she also raised concerns over the alleged irregularities in the recent probe at the fintech firm. |
| February 22, 2022 | Grover sought protection from any future action against him as a part of settlement with BharatPe, an Economic Times report revealed. He also filed an arbitration plea in Singapore to protect his shareholdings in the company. |
| February 23, 2022 | terminated |
| February 27, 2022 | The Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC) rejected Grover’s plea. |
| March 1, 2022 | Ashneer Grover resigned as the managing director and director of BharatPe. He continues to be the largest individual shareholder at BharatPe with 9.5% shareholdings. |
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