Byju Raveendran Secures Personal Debt to Pay March Salaries to Employees
Photo : PTI
Think and Learn, the edtech firm that owns the Byju’s brand, has partially credited employee salaries for March. Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of Think and Learn, reportedly utilized personal debt to fulfill these salary payments. The estimated expenditure for partial salary disbursements by Byju’s stands at approximately Rs 25-30 crore.
Employees received their salaries on Saturday, April 20th, with amounts ranging between 50-100 percent of their usual pay. A source indicated that Byju had to acquire additional personal debt to cover these salaries due to funds from a rights issue being inaccessible, as foreign investors have yet to release them, PTI quoted sources in its report.
The source also mentioned that individuals at the lower levels of the organization received full salary payments. Earlier, the company had raised USD 200 million through a rights issue, intending to address operational needs, which included meeting employee salary obligations.
A group of four investors — Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina, and Peak XV — along with the support from other shareholders, including Tiger and Owl Ventures, have approached NCLT against the founders as well as the rights issue which may lead to change in shareholding pattern in the company. The hearing in the matter before the court is scheduled on April 23. “Paying salary through debt is not a sustainable model. The situation will become more complicated after the court goes on leave,” a source said.
(PTI Inputs)
