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    Top CEOs whose exits were shrouded in controversy

    PANORAMA

    Top CEOs whose exits were shrouded in controversy

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    Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal resigned  following an investigation by the parent company Walmart over allegations of "serious personal misconduct". Bansal's resignation was accepted with immediate effect.The surprise announcement by Walmart was followed by an email from Binny, denying the allegations, and the company board confirming Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy's induction as Flipkart's Group CEO. Here are some other top CEOs whose exits were shrouded by controversy

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    Chanda Kochhar, ICICIICICI Bank's managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Chanda Kochhar, came out of an enforced leave and then quit ICICI in October 2018, amid allegations of loans for favours and conflict of interest. She had charges of nepotism and conflict of interest against her with regard to loans given to the Videocon group. Law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas withdrew its 2016 report that had given a clean chit to her after a fresh inquiry was announced in May 2018. Even as the board stood by her, details of misdoings emerged in the media, leading to a multi-agency probe against Kochhar. The cases under scanner include the bank's Rs 3,250 crore loan to Videocon Group in 2012 and the involvement of Kochhar family members, including her husband Deepak Kochhar, in first sanctioning the loan and then restructuring the same. On October 4, the bank informed that Kochhar had quit the bank with immediate effect.

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    Brian Krzanich, Intel
    In June 2018, CEO Brian Krzanich resigned with immediate effect. He had a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee which violated  the company's non-fraternisation policy which is to be followed by all managers. According to Intel, his resignation was accepted immediately to show that all employees needed to accept and adhere to the values and code of conduct of Intel. Krzanich had held the position of CEO since May 2013

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    Jan Koum, WhatsappWhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum left the organisation after arguments with parent company Facebook over data privacy in 2018. Koum was against Facebook's approach to data privacy and encryption. Facebook had pushed Whatsapp to change its terms of service in 2017 to let Facebook access Whatsapp users' phone numbers. The business model of the app also became a bone of contention between Facebook and Whatsapp. It seemed Koum's exit was based on ideological differences with the parent company

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    Travis Kalanick, Uber Technologies
    Former CEO of Uber Technologies Inc Travis Kalanick had to resign in June 2017 under pressure from investors. The investors included one of Uber's biggest shareholders, the venture capital firm Benchmark, which has one of its partners, Bill Gurley, on Uber's board. They demanded a change in leadership after months of scandals related to the work culture at Uber which included sexual harassment and widespread discrimination. The troubles began earlier that year when a former Uber engineer spoke about sexual harassment at the company. That was just the starting point for the cab-hailing service. More skeletons in the cupboard fell out. The company was also struggling with an intellectual property lawsuit from Waymo and another federal inquiry into a software tool the company had used.

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    Vishal Sikka, InfosysFormer Infosys Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka resigned in Aug 2017 after spending three years at the company. It came after a tussle between the founder-shareholders and the company board. The tussle was regarding issues of governance. Problems started brewing in the beginning of the year when promoters started expressing concerns about deteriorating governance and values at Infosys. Investigations were carried out into several decisions made by the company. Two whistleblowers complained to market regulator Sebi alleging improprieties in its $200 million acquisition of Panaya. A sharp increase in Sikka's compensation also did not go down well with the promoter-shareholders.

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    Shashi Arora, Airtel Payments BanksIn December 2017, Shashi Arora, Airtel Payments Bank MD and CEO quit after having spent 12 years at the Bharti-Airtel group. He resigned due to the firm's eKYC licence suspension by the UIDAI. Bharti Airtel was accused of using the Aadhaar-eKYC based SIM verification process to open payments bank accounts of subscribers without their 'informed consent'.

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    Phaneesh Murthy, iGateMurthy's exit from Infosys had taken place due to charges of sexual harassment levelled against him by his executive secretary. Subsequently he faced another charge at Infosys. Claims of sexual harassment followed Murthy, one of Indian IT's brightest stars who was fired from iGate in 2013 where he was the Chief Executive Officer. "The board's decision was made as a result of an investigation by outside legal counsel, engaged by the board, of the facts and circumstances surrounding a relationship Mr. Murthy had with a subordinate employee and a claim of sexual harassment," iGate said in a statement.

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