Setback for Walmart as CEO of Flipkart quits over “personal misconduct”

In a major setback to Walmart’s (WMT) Indian operations, the CEO of its recently purchased unit Flipkart has stepped down following allegations of “serious personal misconduct.” Binny Bansal, also the co-founder of the Indian e-commerce giant formed in 2007, has strongly denied the allegations.

“While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in judgment, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation,” the company said.

The probe stems from a sexual harassment allegation a few years ago, Reuters reported citing a person familiar with the matter.

Kalyan Krishnamoorthi, who heads the company’s core e-commerce operations, will now oversee the rest of the operations as well, which includes apparel websites Jabong and Myntra.

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Walmart had purchased 77% stake Flipkart in May for $16 billion, in its biggest-ever acquisition to fend off competition from rival Amazon (AMZN). Flipkart’s other co-founder, Sachin Bansal, had left the company immediately following the acquisition.

Walmart had earlier stated that it plans to publicly list the Indian unit, which had reported revenue of $2.8 billion in 2017, in another four years. Speculations were rife that the big box retailer was mulling a management rejig, but the latest developments are expected speed-up the process.

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