Ashneer Grover Publicly Criticizes Former SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar, Alleges Value Destruction

On November 17, Ashneer Grover, former co-founder and managing director of BharatPe, took to the social media platform X to launch a scathing attack on former SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar. Grover accused Kumar of “delivering nothing and creating a deflection to hide behind.”

In a tweet, Grover remarked, “Building a big business from scratch is the hardest thing to do. Inheriting a business and keeping it running at the same level is still hard. Delivering nothing and creating a deflection to hide behind is the easiest. Well done, Rajnish Kumar (well technically, ‘nothing’ has been done, but still)!”

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Grover didn’t mince words in alleging that Kumar set a world record of destroying $8 billion at SBI and $3 billion at BharatPe consecutively as Chairman. He expressed doubt that this financial downturn could be concealed behind legal cases against him, especially considering the potential for another billion-dollar write-down with Byju’s.

This is not the first time Grover has targeted Kumar. In a tweet from December 17, 2022, Grover referred to Kumar as his “biggest hiring mistake” and criticized his tenure as CMD of SBI, highlighting a 25% stock decline during Kumar’s leadership.

Rajnish Kumar assumed the position of Chairman of the BharatPe board in October 2021.

Grover continued to assert that Kumar was responsible for the destruction of BharatPe’s value, citing a $3 billion write-off under Kumar’s leadership. Grover substantiated his claims with a comparison chart indicating zero growth or negative impact in various metrics, including market share and investments, after 2022.

This development follows a public spat between Ashneer Grover and Deepak Shenoy, the founder and CEO of CapitalMind. The exchange occurred amid reports of an Economic Offences Wing (EOW) probe into Grover for alleged funds siphoning from BharatPe under the guise of recruitment services.

In response to reports of the EOW probe, Grover engaged in a verbal dispute with CapitalMind’s Deepak Shenoy. The EOW had filed an FIR against Grover and his family members based on a complaint by BharatPe, naming his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, and brother-in-laws Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain in the case.