CEO of Walmart-owned Flipkart resigns over misconduct claims
INDIA The chief executive of Flipkart Group, Walmart's Indian e-commerce business, resigned following an internal probe into accusations of "serious personal misconduct," Walmart said on Tuesday.
The misconduct accusations followed an allegation of sexual assault, two people familiar with the matter said.
The departure of Mr Binny Bansal, 37, one of the co-founders of Bangalore-based Flipkart, could be a setback for Walmart's efforts to compete with Amazon.com Inc in India's huge consumer market.
A tech-savvy billionaire, Mr Bansal took over as CEO of Flipkart in 2016. He became the chairman and group CEO of the e-commerce company this year.
Walmart paid US$16 billion (S$22 billion) for a roughly 77-per cent stake in Flipkart in May. The investment is the US retailer's biggest acquisition and was a major move in its efforts to compete against Amazon's growing market share at home and abroad.
Walmart announced it would acquire the stake in Flipkart in May and completed the deal in August.
In a note sent to Flipkart employees, which was seen by Reuters, Mr Bansal said recent events led him to step down.
He said the events related to a claim of misconduct against him, "which was uncorroborated after a thorough investigation completed by an independent law firm".
Mr Bansal did not give details of the nature of the claim. "The allegations left me stunned and I strongly deny them," he wrote. - REUTERS
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