Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder and MD of BharatPe is going on a voluntary leave of absence till March-end, saying that he will utilise this time to “rejuvenate” and “refresh” himself. The BhartPe board has accepted his decision, informing that CEO Suhail Sameer will continue to lead the management team.
BharatPe said in a statement, “For now, the board has accepted Ashneer’s decision, which we agree is in the best interests of the company, our employees and investors, and the millions of merchants we support each day.”
The move comes amid rising concerns over Grover’s image after an anonymous sound clip went viral on social media earlier this month. The leaked sound clip was allegedly an abusive phone call recording between Grover and a banker from Kotak Wealth Management about the bank not being able to finance for an initial public offering.
Grover said in a separate statement, “After much deliberation, I plan to take a temporary leave of absence from BharatPe till March end. I will return on or before April 1, 2022. I expect to spend the time thinking more deeply about our next phase of product development and BharatPe’s path to profitability and IPO. I will also double down on investing in myself personally.”
Grover had sent a legal notice to Kotak Mahindra Bank seeking damages for missing out on the Nykaa IPO. Earlier this month, Kotak had stated that it will pursue legal action for “inappropriate language” used by Grover, seemingly confirming the authenticity of the leaked audio clip.
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