byju’s salaries: Byju’s clears January salaries, founder Raveendran lauds employees for their support

Byju Raveendran, the founder and chief executive of cash-strapped edtech Byju’s, told employees the company has credited January’s salaries as of Sunday.
ET spoke to employees, across senior and junior roles, who confirmed the development.

“I have been moving mountains for months to make payroll, and this time, the struggle was even bigger to ensure that you receive what you rightfully deserve,” Raveendran told employees in an email viewed by ET.

On Friday, the company’s management had blamed an “artificially induced crisis” by a select group of investors for a delay in paying the January salaries.

The management had said back then that the salary would be paid in a phased manner starting Friday and be completed by Monday,

Raveendran also said the support from employees helped strengthen the fight against the odds. “To be clear, this fight is only against a few vested interests trying to sabotage the company by impeding the rights issue. Nothing has galvanised our team more than their effort to destabilise our company.”

The latest note comes days after a group of investors issued a notice seeking an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Byju’s parent Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. On Thursday, the group, including Peak XV Partners and Prosus, demanded a change of management and board at Byju’s, citing “persisting issues”. “The resolutions being put forward for the EGM to consider include a request for the resolution of governance, financial mismanagement and compliance issues; the reconstitution of the board of directors, so that it is no longer controlled by the founders of Think & Learn; and a change in leadership of the company,” the group had said in a statement.

General Atlantic, Sofina, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Owl Ventures and Sand Capital are among the signatories from the investor group.

The board members include Raveendran, his wife and Byju’s cofounder Divya Gokulnath and brother Riju Ravindran. Former State Bank India chairman Rajnish Kumar and ex-Infosys finance chief Mohandas Pai are part of Byju’s advisory council, which was formed in July after the resignation of the representatives of Prosus, Peak XV and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.