Byju's founder mortgaged his house to pay staff salaries, family property also at stake

The cash crunch of edutech company Byju's has reached the home of founder Byju Raveendran. He has mortgaged his house to pay the staff salaries. Besides, the family property has also been put at stake.

Edutech company Byju's was once the country's richest startup, but now its cash crunch is deepening. The situation is such that founder Ravindran Byju had to mortgage his house to pay the salaries of the staff. His family's property is also at stake to raise money.

Bloomberg, quoting sources, has reported that startup company Byju's, which is facing severe cash crunch, does not even have the money to pay the salaries of its staff. Therefore, the founder of the company has found a way to raise money by mortgaging not only his property but also the properties in the name of his family members.

Net worth was once 5 billion dollars

Ravindran Byju's family owns two houses in Bengaluru. Along with this, his villa is under construction in a gated society 'Epsilon'. He has mortgaged his property to borrow 1.2 crore dollars (about Rs 100 crore). Byju's has to pay salaries to 15,000 employees of its parent company Think & Learn Pvt.

Once the net worth of Byju Raveendran was 5 billion dollars (about Rs 41,715 crore). Now he has taken a personal loan of 40 crore dollars. He has also pledged all his shares in the company.

Trying to save the company somehow

Byju's cash flow has been completely shaken. The company has tried everything from laying off staff to raising fresh funds. Apart from this, it is facing investigation by ED for violation of some provisions of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act. This case is of embezzlement of about Rs 9,000 crore. Due to all this, the company's crisis is continuously increasing.

Its investors have also complained about Byju's working methods. Many board members have expressed their objections regarding this. The company has not got its books audited for many years. At present, the financial year 2023-24 is going on, while the company has not even prepared the financial statements for 2020-21.

Meanwhile, the founders of the company are somehow trying to keep the company running. In this sequence, now the news of Byju Raveendran keeping his own house has come. Byju's had also acquired America's digital reading platform. Now there is preparation to sell it for about Rs 3337.15 crore. However, no official statement has been given yet by Byju Raveendran or Byju's in this regard.