Byju Raveendran tightens grip on Byju's as CEO Arjun Mohan steps down

Outgoing CEO of Byju's Arjun Mohan

Byju Raveendran is reasserting control over Byju's, the embattled edtech company, as he resumes the role of CEO, taking the helm from Arjun Mohan, who stepped down on April 15.

Mohan's departure comes just 10 months after he was roped in to lead Byju's' international business.

Raveendran will now oversee daily operations, the company said in a statement. Mohan will transition to an external advisory role, it added.

Arjun Mohan confirmed to Moneycontrol that he will step down to pursue other opportunities as the business has reduced and Byju Raveendran will handle more day to day operations. He also said that it will be better for morale. Raveendran is returning at the helm after a gap of four years.

“Arjun has done an outstanding job steering BYJU'S through a challenging period,” he added. “We are grateful for his leadership and look forward to his continued contributions as a strategic advisor,” Byju Raveendran, Founder and Group CEO.

A source close to the development said Mohan was hopeful of landing the top job at Aakash, a role that ended up going to former Pearson India MD --- last week. With reduced business in Byju's and no role in Aakash, Mohan has decided to look for other opportunities in edtech.

The top-deck rejig comes at a time when the company has consolidated its operations into three focused divisions – The Learning App, Online Classes & Tuition Centres, and Test-prep. Each of these units will have separate leaders who will independently run the businesses sustainably to ensure profitability as the company continues to battle severe cash crunch issues.

“This reorganization marks the start of BYJU'S 3.0 - a leaner and more agile organization ready to quickly adapt to evolving market dynamics, especially in the realm of hyper-personalized education,” Raveendran added.

In September of 2023, embattled Byju’s brought in a new leadership transition in what it called as ‘Byju’s 2.0’.

Mohan, took charge and led the business restructuring after bidding farewell to its India CEO Mrinal Mohit, a founding employee and former student of Raveendran.

Mohan had served as Byju's Chief Business Officer and quit the firm in 2020 to join Ronnie Screwvala's upskilling unicorn upGrad as its CEO. Earlier in July, he returned to Byju's to head its international business but the company had not made any official announcement then.

The management rejig also comes when the embattled edtech unicorn is grappling with a tight liquidity situation.

The firm has also given up office space, exploring a sale of subsidiaries and is raising external funding, among other measures. It has undertaken multiple rounds of layoffs in the past too.

In fact, one of the prime tasks for Mohan was to restructure and downsize the company. as he initiated a major restructuring effort, which led to the elimination of 4,000 to 5,000 jobs at Byju’s.

Also Read: Byju's unveils massive restructuring under new CEO, may let go of 4,000-5,000 employees

End of last year, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) directed the edtech company to keep funds received from the rights issue in an escrow account till the disposal of the oppression and mismanagement plea filed by four of the company's investors.

The plea was filed by Byju’s investors, including Prosus NV, Peak XV Partners, General Atlantic, and Sofina SA, who opposed the company's decision to raise $200 million at a post-money valuation of $225 million, which is 99 percent lower than the company's last funding round which happened at a valuation of $22 billion.

On April 8 2024, Byju’s began salary payments after delaying for the past two months even as it is barred from using proceeds of recently floated rights issue.

In the email, the company added that despite efforts, it has not yet secured approval to access the rights issue funds, because of the action of four of its investors.