Exclusive | I’ve lost management shares worth Rs 100 crore: Ashneer Grover

In an
interaction with ET hours after he resigned, Grover said BharatPe had also “defrauded” his wife, former BharatPe controller Madhuri Jain, of her employee stock options.

“Monetarily I have actually given up close to Rs 100 crore of management stock options that were to be given to me. They have snatched that away from me. They have defrauded Madhuri (Jain) by taking some Rs 12 crore of equity from her,” added Grover.

Jain was sacked by BharatPe for “misappropriation of funds”,
ET reported on January 23.

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Grover also attacked BharatPe’s review committee, including board chairman Rajnish Kumar, chief executive Suhail Sameer, and general counsel Sumeet Singh, saying they had negotiated their stock option terms better than any employee at the fintech firm.

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“These people sitting on the review committee – Rajnish Kumar, Suhail Sameer, Sumeet Singh – have negotiated better [stock option] terms than all employees at BharatPe. Their shares are being vested in two years, while Madhuri’s and my shares are being vested in four years. And suddenly this is not a conflict of interest? And no one will raise fingers at them, since [they] are sitting on the review committee… I’m out of [their] hair now,” added Grover.

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Read Ashneer Grover’s resignation letter sent to the BharatPe board

Grover also warned BharatPe’s management and board that if they “came after” him, he would respond in kind. “My point is very simple — if you come after me, I will come after you. And then there will be no holds barred… The smart people in the room already know what I know,” he added.

In his letter to the BharatPe’s board on Tuesday, Grover
alleged that he has been ‘vilified’ and treated in the “most disrespectful manner” since the start of the year.

It is important to note that Grover had appointed Kumar
as the company’s board chairman last October. He had also paved the way for Suhail Sameer, who joined the company in 2020, to take over as chief executive last August.

“See when people are spineless, you bend in the direction that the wind is blowing… Not a single penny has ever been raised by Shashvat (Nakrani) or Suhail. They don’t even have the ability,” said Grover.

ET earlier reported that BharatPe’s
board was expected to meet on the evening of March 1, and that the final report from independent consultant PwC would be tabled.