
Former SBI chief and BharatPe Chairman Rajnish Kumar found support from netizens after the fintech platform's former co-founder Ashneer Grover said hiring him was his "biggest mistake".
"Rajnish Kumar: Ex-chairman of State Bank of India. Invited to the board by Madhuri and me, he had shown enough early signs of wanting control and to make money out of BharatPe, which I ignored to my detriment," Grover claimed in his book titled 'Doglapan'.
"Whether it was getting his ESOPs increased from Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore on the first day in office, or asking me to get him free membership to the DLF Golf Course when I held a meeting with Centrum at DLF Golf Links, there were enough and more signs. In the well-executed plot, he played me the longest," Grover alleged.
In a tweet, the former Shark Tank India judge had said, "Rajnish Kumar was my biggest hiring mistake".
"Not only because of what transpired - but bcoz I overlooked data. Under Rajnish as CMD, SBI stock tanked 25 per cent in 3 years (Rs 257 -- Rs 192). That's $8 billion of value destruction. After he left, it went to Rs 570 (up 200 per cent). Data is never dogla!" Grover claimed in his tweet.
Twitter users said Grover's tweet is out of place considering how a former PSU head is hired for his network, not for efficiency.
Another user said Grover had no right to talk about a stock's performance when he had said Paytm stock was "a screaming buy" at Rs 600, when it later fell to 440.
"Just to sell book you're making such statements, PSU doesn't work to create shareholder wealth," said another Twitter user.
Incidentally, in October 2021 when BharatPe hired Kumar, Grover had said in an official statement that "it is a matter of great validation and pride for us that one of the biggest stalwarts of the Indian Banking Industry has agreed to join BharatPe as the Chairman of the Board".
"We look forward to invaluable guidance from Rajnish Kumar as we build India's largest digital credit provider. We are confident that under his able guidance, BharatPe will attain newer heights and build the best-in-class fintech for the new India," Grover had said.
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