New Delhi, April 4: Byju Raveendran, the edtech entrepreneur who was a constant on India’s 100 richest Forbes list, did not feature in the 2024 list. His company, Byju’s, is currently facing significant challenges, including overdue financial results, mass board member exits, and other issues.

Raveendran co-founded Byju’s, which was India’s most valuable startup in 2011. A year ago, his net worth was Rs 17,545 crore ($2.1 billion). However, it has now plummeted to zero. BYJU’s Layoffs: Embattled Edtech Company Starts Laying Off Hundreds of Employees Without Letting Them Serving Notice Period Amid Cash Crunch.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the company recently posted its long-delayed results for the fiscal year ending March 2022, showing a net loss exceeding $1 billion. Following this, BlackRock slashed its valuation of Byju’s to about $1 billion, down from $22 billion in 2022. In February, Byju’s shareholders voted to oust Raveendran as CEO. Byju’s Delays March Salary As Funds Remain Stuck, Likely To Pay by April 8.

This week, the company laid off more than 500 people and may witness more departures due to delayed salary payments for the past three months. A company spokesperson stated, “We are in the final stages of a business restructuring exercise announced in October 2023 to simplify operating structures, reduce the cost base, and better cash flow management.”

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has placed a plea by the investors to halt the rights issue of Byju’s before the tribunal president. The president of NCLT is likely to allocate the case to a third member of the NCLT to hear the interim application again.

Byju Raveendran No More A Billionaire:

Ahead of its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) conducted last month, Raveendran told dissenting investors who stayed away from the previous month’s $200 million rights issues that they were welcome to participate in it over the next 72 hours.

While Raveendran has dropped off the Forbes billionaires index, the number of billionaires in the world overall has increased. There are now 2,781 billionaires in the world, 141 more than last year. In India, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is the richest person with a wealth of $116 billion, according to the latest Forbes rankings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2024 08:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).