Unacademy CEO Announces No Salary Hikes While Wearing $400 T-shirt

A Reddit user shared a snippet from Unacademy’s town hall, pointing out the Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal’s expensive Burberry T-shirt, worth $200 to $570 as he announced that academy employees will not receive appraisals this year. 

CEO Gaurav Munjal announced while wearing a $400 T-shirt during a virtual town hall.

The CEO of Unacademy informed employees that the company did not meet its growth targets and as a result, there will be no appraisals this year. 

Munjal announced, “I think 2023 was an average year for us. But 2024, if not great, was above average. But we did not hit our growth goals. The good part is that the burn is extremely low now, and we have a huge runway. And I kept saying that we don’t have a survival risk,” 

Munjal said it was a tough phase because of challenges such as tough market conditions and declining revenue from offline centres, and that's why the firm won't be able to conduct appraisals this year.

He also urged the workforce to focus on the bigger picture although some employees have not received appraisals for two years.

Social Media Reaction:

A Reddit user pointed out that Munjal wore an expensive t-shirt as he announced the sad news to employees via video clip.

The user wrote, "This is Burberry Black Parker tshirt with embroidered logo. Yeah agreed that one shouldn't go after their personal stuff. But it is what it is."

One user commented, "Interesting to see when things are going well these guys talk about how they were so innovative, how they spotted an opportunity n blah. But when things go bad it’s always “Tough Market”, no ownership of wrong decisions they made"

Another user replied, "These Ceo's won't lower their own standard of living but rather stop appraisals for the people who are running their businesses."

A third user commented, "He takes full ownership of this? How exactly? Is he giving extra stock options instead of appraisal? Gaslighting karne ka tareeka thoda kezual hai"