Ashneer Grover's wife out of BharatPe: 7 companies that fired their founders
Founders of a company; a start-up; are often regarded as entrepreneurial mavericks. But what happens when the company board itself decides that founders are becoming a liability? Well, that’s when the brainchild of the founders decides to ditch their ‘toxic’ parents.
Something similar is happening to Ashneer Grover’s fintech start-up BharatPe. Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover have been embroiled in a bitter battle with the Board of Directors at BharatPe over several issues. After Grover and his wife took a leave of absence following a public furore, BharatPe even constituted an internal audit. Reports alleged that the co-founder and his wife were involved in mismanaging the company’s funds.
On February 23, 2022, Wednesday, numerous reports confirmed that BharatPe fired co-founder Ashneer Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain Grover, who used to control the finances of the company, over alleged financial irregularities. Her ESOPs have also been cancelled by the company.
While no official reason has been given for Madhuri’s removal, it is alleged that she used the company funds for personal reasons – from getting beauty treatments to taking international family trips to the US and Dubai.
Madhuri Jain Grover reacted to the development with a series of furious tweets claiming that the ‘male chauvinistic board’ treated her like an object.
Congrats @SuhailSameer14 @BhavikKoladiya and Shashvat Nakrani. Now you may indulge in your ‘drunken orgies’ without having to wait for me (righteous lady) to leave office. Slow clap !! @timesofindia @htTweets @chandrarsrikant @livemint @bharatpeindia pic.twitter.com/gGJXRL97i7
— Madhuri Jain Grover (@madsj30) February 23, 2022
Ashneer Grover on the other hand has reportedly filed for an arbitration plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). ET reported that Grover has claimed indemnity or protection from future action against him during the settlement discussions at BharatPe.
Ashneer Grover is not the only founder to have faced an ouster from his own company.
Here are 7 companies that forced the removal of their own founders at one point in time:
1. FLIPKART
Flipkart was founded in 2007 by founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. But both were both shown the door by the company one after the other after more than a decade later. Sachin Bansal had a fallout with the board of Flipkart during the Walmart buyout talks in 2018 and was subsequently ousted from the company. He sold his entire stake at Flipkart for more than $1 billion and exited the company.
Binny Bansal continues to hold shares in the company; however, he was removed as the CEO months after Sachin’s exit, on charges of ‘personal misconduct’.
2. HOUSING.COM
Housing.com founder Rahul Yadav was once touted as a role model for young entrepreneurs. However, he was ‘released’ from his role as the CEO for his unbecoming behaviour in 2015. The real estate search portal was founded in 2012.
3. THE VIRAL FEVER (TVF)
The Desi OTT platform that was founded in 2015 by IIT alumnus Arunabh Kumar, showed the door to the founder in 2017 following allegations of sexual harassment. Kumar stepped down from his position as the CEO following months of controversy.
Companies firing their founders is not just an Indian concept, but it is perhaps seen more widely in Western companies too.
4. APPLE
Entrepreneurial icon Steve Jobs was also not immune to his company firing him. Apple’s board decided to remove Jobs from the company just 9 years after starting it. However, Jobs finally did make it back at Apple sometime later.
5. TWITTER
Jack Dorsey recently stepped down from all his executive positions at Twitter, leaving Parag Agrawal in charge. Dorsey’s time at Twitter was also fraught with the board, with several controversies flying around. It was reported that there had been pressure from the board for Dorsey to resign from the company for some time.
6. UBER
Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of Uber, stepped down from his position as CEO in 2019 after nearly 10 years of founding the app-based taxi booking platform. Kalanick also sold all his shares in the company before his exit. It was reported that Kalanick’s tiff with the board at Uber stemmed from allegations that he fostered a hostile working environment.
7. TESLA
Today we know Tesla Motors as one of the babies of billionaire Elon Musk. However, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard had an unceremonial exit from the company in 2007. He even sued Musk for orchestrating his ouster in 2009.
Fun fact: Even Elon Musk wasn’t completely immune to being thrown out of his own company. He was also removed from PayPal, one of the companies he had founded.