Flipkart CEO quits amid misconduct probe

Leading Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart Group CEO and Co-founder Binny Bansal resigned yesterday following a probe into an alleged “serious personal misconduct”, said the firm's new parent Walmart.

Bansal, 37, has strongly denied the allegation, the American retail giant said in a statement.

His decision to step down follows an independent investigation done on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart even though the probe “did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant's assertions against Binny”, it said.

While the statement did not provide details of the “personal misconduct” allegations against Bansal, sources indicated that the complainant was associated with Flipkart a few years ago and is now running her own venture.

This, however, could not be independently ascertained.

The statement pointed out that the “deliberate and thorough” investigation “did reveal other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation. Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign”.

Bansal's resignation as the CEO of Flipkart Group is with immediate effect. He was serving as the Group CEO after Walmart's mega $16 billion investment in the Bengaluru-based company.

Sachin Bansal, the other co-founder (not related to Binny), had left Flipkart after selling his entire 5.5 percent stake to Walmart as part of the deal.

Walmart's statement said the recent events “risked becoming a distraction for the company” and Binny had made a decision to step down.

The statement pointed out that Binny had been contemplating a transition for some time and that the company (Walmart) had been working together on a succession plan, which has now been accelerated.