BYJU’S, the troubled edtech decacorn, has witnessed significant share sales by its promoters, Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath, and Riju Ravindran, amounting to approximately $408.53 million in 40 secondary transactions since 2015, according to a market analysis by PrivateCircle Research.
The analysis reveals that Byju Raveendran individually sold 29,306 shares worth $3.28 million, while his wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath sold 64,565 shares worth $29.40 million. Riju Ravindran, the brother of Byju Raveendran, sold 337,911 shares valued at $375.83 million during the same period.
Throughout the years, numerous investors participated in BYJU’S secondary transactions, including prominent names like Silver Lake Partners, Blackrock, T Rowe Price, Chan Zuckerberg, Owl Ventures, Naspers, Times Internet, Lightspeed Ventures, Proxima Beta, Naspers Ventures, General Atlantic, and Alkeon.
Interestingly, Byju Raveendran also acquired 31,960 shares from various sellers, including his father Ravindran Kunnaruvath and several BYJU’S employees. Divya Gokulnath purchased a total of 4,666 shares from Vidyartha founders Navin Balan and Priya Mohan. BYJU’S had acquired Vidyartha back in 2017. Riju Ravindran purchased 100 shares from BYJU’S COO Mrinal Mohit.
Presently, the promoters of BYJU’S collectively hold a 21% stake in the edtech firm. Byju Raveendran individually holds 15.90%, while Divya Gokulnath and Riju Ravindran possess 3.32% and 1.99% stakes, respectively.
According to PrivateCircle’s analysis, the promoters’ shareholding in the company has gradually declined since 2016. The first significant drop occurred between 2015-2016 when the promoters’ stake decreased from 71.6% to 54.7%. Subsequently, it further declined to 34.7% in 2019 and 21.2% in 2023.
Recently, three board members of BYJU’S, including GV Ravishankar of Peak XV Partners, Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, and Chan Zuckerberg’s Vivian Wu, resigned due to a breakdown in trust and communication with BYJU’S co-founder and CEO Byju Raveendran.
Moreover, the company’s statutory auditor, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, also resigned due to the delay in filing the financial results for FY22. BYJU’S released its FY21 financial statements after a delay of nearly 12 months, reporting a staggering loss of INR 4,588 crore, a massive increase of 1,880% from INR 231.69 crore in FY20.
Amidst business slowdown and mounting troubles, BYJU’S has conducted several rounds of mass layoffs. Last month, the company initiated another round of layoffs that impacted over 1,000 employees. In October of the previous year, it laid off more than 2,500 employees across multiple subsidiaries.
According to Inc42’s layoff tracker, BYJU’S has terminated over 4,000 employees since 2022, excluding the most recent layoffs, reflecting the challenges faced by the company in a deteriorating business environment.
