Byju Raveendran

In May 2026, Byju's founder Byju Raveendran was sentenced to 6 months in jail by a Singapore court. Court filings revealed $533M (44% of a $1.2B loan) went missing from the company, with a judge ruling that Raveendran's brother transferred funds 'with fraudulent intent' to outside accounts. The Indian Supreme Court rejected Byju's attempts to bypass insolvency proceedings. The company's valuation collapsed from $22B to near zero.

The US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware held Byju Raveendran in civil contempt for failing to appear before the court and submit evidence on time in the $533 million fraud case. Raveendran was ordered to pay $10,000 per day for each day he remained in contempt. He skipped hearings, missed extended deadlines, and provided evasive and incomplete responses regarding the alleged transfers. A default judgment of over $1.07 billion was subsequently issued in November 2025, though it was later amended to set a new damages phase for January 2026.

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Judge John Dorsey ruled that $533 million from a $1.2 billion loan was fraudulently transferred from BYJU's Alpha Inc. to Camshaft Capital Fund, a hedge fund run by a man in his mid-20s operating out of an IHOP in Miami. The court found Think & Learn actively misled lenders into believing funds remained in cash equivalents. Court filings alleged the money was routed through intermediaries to Byju's Global Pte Ltd, a Singapore entity wholly owned by Byju Raveendran. Raveendran denies orchestrating fraud, claiming funds were used for legitimate international expansion.

A year-long investigation by India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs found significant corporate governance lapses at BYJU'S, though it did not find evidence of direct financial fraud such as fund siphoning or account manipulation. Investigators found the company failed to bring in professionals to manage finances and compliance, did not fully disclose acquisition details to all directors, and often convened approval meetings on short notice. A subsequent probe by the Registrar of Companies in Hyderabad was launched in November 2024 to examine whether the company misreported financial statements.

Three major investor board members from Prosus, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India) resigned from BYJU's board over governance concerns and disagreements with Raveendran on internal controls. CFO Ajay Goel left in October 2023, India CEO Arjun Mohan departed in April 2024, and advisory council members Rajnish Kumar and TV Mohandas Pai also resigned. Prosus subsequently wrote off its 9.6% stake to zero, citing inadequate information on the company's financial health.

Between 2022 and early 2024, BYJU'S shed approximately 46,000 employees through multiple rounds of layoffs, reducing headcount from roughly 60,000 to about 14,000. The layoffs occurred as the company faced mounting financial difficulties, delayed financial filings, and growing investor concerns. The mass reductions affected employees across departments and geographies.