Binny Bansal resigns as chairman and CEO of Flipkart group

Bansal, 37, who co-founded Flipkart along with Sachin Bansal, has strongly denied the allegation. The two co-founders have exited from the top of the online retailer. Binny, however, will continue to be on the board of Flipkart.

“While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it revealed other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how he responded to the situation, because of which his decision to resign was accepted,” the statement said.

Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue to be the CEO of Flipkart, which will now include Myntra and Jabong, and continue to operate as separate platforms within the Flipkart business. 

Ananth Narayanan will continue as CEO of Myntra and Jabong and will report to Kalyan. Sameer Nigam will continue to lead PhonePe as CEO. Both Kalyan and Sameer will report directly to the board. 

With both Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal out of power, Flipkart, India’s largest and most popular e-commerce firm, will now be a Walmart show.

Walmart, meanwhile, said Bansal has been contemplating an exit for some time, and the company has been working with him on a succession plan. 

“Events relate to a claim of serious personal misconduct made against me. My decision to step down has been accelerated by certain personal events. Best to step away as chairman and group CEO,” Bansal told Flipkart employees in an e-mail.

Bansal said he was left stunned by the allegations and that he and his family were going through difficult times.

Media reports have been hinting at changes at Flipkart ever since Walmart paid $16 billion for a roughly 77 per cent stake in the online shopping platform as it strives to compete with Amazon.

The US retailer has already announced plans to float Flipkart publicly within the next four years.