Byju Raveendran Breaks Silence & Urges Probe Into EY - Glas Trust ‘Collusion’

Byju Raveendran, the founder and CEO of the bankrupt edtech firm Byju’s, spoke out for the first time in months, addressing the company’s financial crisis and legal battles in a LinkedIn post.

“I am the Byju of BYJU'S, and I am here now,” he started the post by explaining what went wrong and how the situation was being misrepresented.

Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran opens up

The Byju’s boss further said he would connect directly with the public, revealing that he has sold everything he owns “to keep his mission alive”.

The entrepreneur accused Glas Trust, the trustee for Byju’s US lenders, and the interim resolution professional (IRP) overseeing the company, of actively harming rather than protecting it.

He reasoned that he was “too busy” building his company and so could not make a public address before now. 

Disclosing that “half the story” has been shared, the CEO said he would detail what he is actually up to. 

“You have been told my family made a fortune by selling our shares,” he said. “But that’s just half the story. You haven’t been told that all that ‘fortune’ has been put back in our company. You probably know me as the man who built BYJU’S. But I am also the man who sold his house and mortgaged his family’s future. Everything that I ever owned has now been sold to keep our mission alive.”

He said that many of his well-wishers tell him that he was “incredibly naïve to start with nothing”. However, he claimed those who come from nothing are never scared of anything.

The  Byju’s founder admitted his journey was not an easy one and he lives with the “guilt” of putting his family through unimaginable misery.

“I live with the regret of not being able to fulfil the promises I once made to all my stakeholders,” he revealed. “Trust me, we did everything in our capacity to stop the insolvency.”

“There are some circumstances that I can control,” he added. “Some I have to live with, and a few that are simply unfair.”

“For example, me and several employees received a document with conclusive evidence of criminal collusion between EY India, which I otherwise held in high regard, GLAS Trust, which claims to represent the lenders it does not represent, and the IRP who was appointed by an Indian court to protect BYJU’S but ended up destroying it. I am sure a thorough investigation of this evidence will reveal the truth. I request the authorities to take that up immediately,” the post continued.

Apologising for the long post, Byju Raveendran said, he believes in working more and talking less. He also shared that the “teacher” in him is still “alive” and “kicking.”

“You can take a teacher out of a classroom but you can never take the classroom out of that teacher,” he said. “I can't wait to get back to teaching. We have been able to create some path-breaking AI-driven learning products which will redefine learning.”

Raveendran assured that from now on he would communicate with the public directly.

“Because direct action is how we built BYJU’S. Those who believe in me make me strong. Those who do not, make me stronger. As they say, you can never defeat someone who does not give up,” the edtech startup founder said.

While concluding the post, he also left a message for the past and present BYJUites.

“I have just one message: stay strong, stay proud. Forgive me for my mistakes. We will be back stronger than ever before Reach out if you want to contribute to a comeback that will redefine resilience in Indian entrepreneurship,” the founder wrote.

“More to come. Much more to come,” the troubled edtech firm’s boss finished.

You can read Byju Raveendran's LinkedIn post here.

Also read: ‘Markets Are Finally Correcting,' Says Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath (startuppedia.in)