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Deepinder Goyal
Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal will surrender his employee stock options (ESOPs) worth around ₹900-1,000 crore after resigning from his Chief Executive Officer (CEO) role on 21 January 2026, reported the news portal The Economic Times.
Zomato co-founder steps down
Deepinder Goyal will be stepping down from his position, and Blinkit’s CEO Albinder Dhindsa will take over, the company informed the exchanges on January 21.
“Today, I am going to step away from the Group CEO role, and subject to shareholders’ approval, will remain on the board of directors as Vice Chairman. Albinder Dhindsa (Albi) will be Eternal's new Group CEO,” Goyal said in his letter to shareholders.
This decision comes as the Zomato entrepreneur explores different ideas. “Of late, I have found myself drawn to a set of new ideas that involve significantly higher-risk exploration and experimentation. These are the kinds of ideas that are better pursued outside a public company like Eternal,” he said in his letter.
“If these ideas belonged inside Eternal’s strategic scope, I would have pursued them within the company. They do not.”
Deepinder Goyal to surrender ₹900–1,000 crore in ESOPs?
The agency report cited that Eternal's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Akshant Goyal, mentioned in the company's earnings call that Deepinder Goyal's ESOPs surrender will add 3.3 crore shares to the company's stock option pool, which currently has 20 crore shares.
“We have a large ESOP pool, which has north of about 20 crore shares...his (Deepinder's) ESOPs will perhaps expand the pool by 3.3 crore shares. Because the pool has expanded, we may not need to dilute our ESOPs again for slightly longer than what we would have otherwise done,” said Akshant Goyal.
According to NSE data, based on Eternal shares at a closing price of ₹276.50, the Zomato founder's ESOPs (reportedly 3.3 crore shares) will be valued at nearly ₹912.45 crore as of 23 January 2026.
“As part of this transition, all of my unvested ESOPs will revert to the ESOP pool. This ensures that Eternal continues to have meaningful wealth-creation opportunities for its next generation of leaders, while strengthening long-term retention without incremental shareholder dilution,” said Deepinder Goyal in his letter to the shareholders.