Revolt At Walmart As Myntra CEO, CFO Quit; 40-50% Of Jabong Staff Will Be Fired [Updated]

Update (November 17th, 2018)

After reports from TOI claimed that Ananth Narayanan has quit, there was some damage control from Walmart. In an interview, Ananth said that he is not quitting, and said, “I’m very excited about Myntra,”. CFO Dipanjan Basu is definitely quitting, as he found “a great opportunity” elsewhere.

Besides, Ananth also said that 10% of Jabong workforce would be fired, not 50%.

Source

[Earlier…]

The unceremonious ‘resignation’ of Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has triggered a chain of events in Walmart, which can be compared to a revolt.

Myntra CEO and CFO, both have resigned from the company, as per some reports. No official confirmation has come in.

Besides, 40-50% of Jabong employees will be most probably fired by this month end, as Walmart aims to consolidate the different brands, and cut down costs.

What exactly is happening here?

Myntra CEO, CFO Quits

As per Times of India’s report, Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan and CFO Dipanjan Basu both have resigned from the company, days after Binny Bansal’s resignation over ‘personal misconduct’.

It seems that internal conflicts between the CEOs of Myntra, Flipkart Group led to this debacle.

When Binny Bansal resigned, Walmart had said that Myntra and Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan will now report to Kalyan Krishnamurthy, who had been elevated as CEO of Flipkart Group.

Now, it seems that not everything was smooth between Kalyan and Ananth, and they didn’t ‘share the best of relations’. Most probably, it was Binny Bansal which helped to maintain the balance of power within Flipkart Group.

But with Binny’s exit, that balance has now been disturbed, and the cards are falling apart. The resignation of Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan, along with CFO Dipanjan Basu proves this argument.

Flipkart hasn’t yet confirmed this development. In an email statement, Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “The Flipkart group is committed to the success of Myntra and growing the business, now more than ever. The Myntra team has been doing innovative work to grow the company and create India’s leading online platforms for fashion and lifestyle. We want to empower the Myntra team to continue to operate independently to achieve even greater success.”

Ananth had joined Myntra in 2015, after Mukesh Bansal, co-founder of Myntra quit the company after Flipkart acquired Myntra. He was earlier with Mckinsey & Co

50% Jabong Staff To Be Fired?

It seems that the tremors of Binny Bansal’s exit haven’t subsided yet.

As news of Myntra & Jabong’s CEO quitting comes along, reports have come in which states that upto 50% of Jabong staff will be fired as part of the consolidation process.

Jabong had been reporting losses since quite some time now, but no one expected that the terminations will begin so swiftly. Out of 400 employees which Jabong has, around 200 will be asked to resign in the coming days.

Besides, Walmart has decided to shift Jabong from Gurgaon to Bengaluru, and those employees who refuse to shift will be asked to leave with a severance package of three months.

However, an unnamed source told TOI: “Many employees are willing to move to Bangalore for a bit if this is what it takes to save their jobs,”

Another set of reports indicate that soon, Jabong and Myntra will cease to be independent brands, and can be merged with Flipkart Fashion for even more intense consolidation.

No official statement has come from Walmart on this issue.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Related: #MeToo Stings Binny Bansal – Sexual Harassment Case Led To His Sudden Resignation From Flipkart