A HARD RESET

New CEO Arjun Mohan has hit the ground running at Byju's, beginning a painful restructuring that the firm hopes will set its house in order

- BINU PAUL

IN MID-SEPTEMBER, Byju’s ushered in a leadership transition, bidding farewell to its India CEO Mrinal Mohit, a founding employee and former student of Founder Byju Raveendran, and handed the reins over to another former student, Arjun Mohan. This change of guard signalled the beginning of a crucial transformation in the 12-year-old education juggernaut.

Mohan is not merely another protégé plucked from Raveendran’s pool of students to serve as a stopgap for optics. An alumnus of IIM Kozhikode, he helped Raveendran as a consultant for years before joining full time in 2016. He left the company in 2020 to become CEO of another edtech firm, upGrad, before rejoining Byju’s this July.

He comes back at a time of intense turmoil as the company finds itself entangled in a legal dispute with its term-loan B (TLB) providers in New York, and back home it has seen the resignations of its auditor Deloitte as well as three nominee board members representing investors Peak XV Partners, Prosus, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Shortly after his return, Mohan was tasked with spearheading a restructuring of the business as it continues to navigate a severe capital crunch and corporate governance concerns.

“Arjun is very direct and a front-foot batter. He is one of those guys who would stand up to Byju (Raveendran); he knows how to manage him. He also has a knack for navigating the complexities of this business. Byju has known him for a long time, and is very comfortable working with him,” says a person with inside knowledge of the company’s transformation.