A day after investors of the troubled ed-tech firm Byju voted for a leadership change, Byju Raveendran wrote a letter to employees saying he continues to remain CEO and the management remains unchanged, as he dubbed Friday's EGM as a "farce".
The letter to employees assumes significance as it comes after Byju's shareholders (prominent investors) on Friday, February 23, voted for removing Founder-CEO Raveendran and his family from the board over alleged 'mismanagement and failures' at what was once India's trending and famous tech startup, calling the voting done in absence of founders as invalid and ineffective.
Raveendran alleged that many essential rules were "violated" at Friday's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). "This means that whatever was decided in that meeting does not count because it didn't stick to the established rules... It is crucial for everyone to understand the specific issues that make this EGM a farce," he wrote, reported by Financial Express.
Raveendran said he firmly believes that the truth will inevitably prevail despite the "relentless trial by the media". "I am writing this letter to you as the CEO of our company. Contrary to what you may have read in the media, I continue to remain CEO, the management remains unchanged, and the board remains the same," he said, adding it is "business as usual" at BYJU'S. "To reemphasise, the rumours of my firing have been greatly exaggerated and highly inaccurate," Raveendran said.
Outlining what he claimed were "key discrepancies" at the EGM, he said the meeting was convened without following the proper procedure set out by the law and the company's Articles of Association.
"To pass any resolution, the meeting needs to have a proper quorum, a set of people who are mandatory. Our articles are clear on the quorum requiring the presence of at least one founder director. Consequently, any resolutions taken at the meeting are not enforceable as per law," he said.
He also stated, "The claims made by a small group of select minority shareholders that they have unanimously passed the resolution in the EGM is completely wrong. Only 35 of 170 shareholders (representing around 45 per cent of shareholding) voted in favour of the resolution. That in itself shows the very limited support that this irrelevant meeting received."
BYJU'S Founder CEO Raveendran Byju, his wife and brother -- the only three members on the company board as of now -- stayed away from the EGM called by a group of six investors, who collectively hold more than 32% in Think & Learn (T&L). This firm operates an online tuition platform, Byju's.