Mumbai | Bengaluru: Flipkart has initiated a major board reshuffle, bringing in four new members, including CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, as the Walmart-owned e-commerce marketplace prepares to hit the stock markets next year amid a rush of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the technology sector globally.
In the reshuffle, announced to employees through a company-wide email on Thursday, new members — HDFC CEO Keki Mistry, Walmart’s global chief technology officer Suresh Kumar and Walmart’s executive vice president for international strategy and development Leigh Hopkins, find a place along with Krishnamurthy.
Steuart Walton, the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton; Dirk Van den Berghe, EVP, Walmart Asia; Rajesh Magow, cofounder, MakeMyTrip; and independent director Rohit Bhagat are the outgoing members.
ET has seen a copy of the email.
“I wanted to let you know that this New Year will see some changes to our board as a number of our current directors will be stepping down after steering us through the first two years following Walmart’s investment,” Krishnamurthy said in the email.
Flipkart declined to comment on ET’s specific query over the change in board composition till press time on Thursday.
The US retail behemoth will continue to retain three seats on the board even after the exercise, with Walmart International president and chief executive Judith McKenna continuing to function as board chairperson. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and former Tiger Global executive Lee Fixel will also hold on to their seats.
“I am happy to share with you that at the board meeting earlier this month, your board was highly appreciative of all our efforts this year, expressed pride in the progress we have made and looked forward to seeing the next chapter of our development as we move towards 2021...,” Krishnamurthy added.
ET reported on December 14 that Berghe was retiring from Walmart and would subsequently step down from the Flipkart board as well. In June last year, ET first reported about Flipkart’s plan for a public listing in an overseas market.
The changes to Flipkart’s board come soon after Walmart spun off PhonePe, to help the digital payments arm raise external capital. PhonePe’s board of directors will consist of co-founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, along with Binny Bansal and Rohit Bhagat.
In the reshuffle, announced to employees through a company-wide email on Thursday, new members — HDFC CEO Keki Mistry, Walmart’s global chief technology officer Suresh Kumar and Walmart’s executive vice president for international strategy and development Leigh Hopkins, find a place along with Krishnamurthy.
Steuart Walton, the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton; Dirk Van den Berghe, EVP, Walmart Asia; Rajesh Magow, cofounder, MakeMyTrip; and independent director Rohit Bhagat are the outgoing members.
ET has seen a copy of the email.
“I wanted to let you know that this New Year will see some changes to our board as a number of our current directors will be stepping down after steering us through the first two years following Walmart’s investment,” Krishnamurthy said in the email.
Flipkart declined to comment on ET’s specific query over the change in board composition till press time on Thursday.
The US retail behemoth will continue to retain three seats on the board even after the exercise, with Walmart International president and chief executive Judith McKenna continuing to function as board chairperson. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and former Tiger Global executive Lee Fixel will also hold on to their seats.
“I am happy to share with you that at the board meeting earlier this month, your board was highly appreciative of all our efforts this year, expressed pride in the progress we have made and looked forward to seeing the next chapter of our development as we move towards 2021...,” Krishnamurthy added.
ET reported on December 14 that Berghe was retiring from Walmart and would subsequently step down from the Flipkart board as well. In June last year, ET first reported about Flipkart’s plan for a public listing in an overseas market.
The changes to Flipkart’s board come soon after Walmart spun off PhonePe, to help the digital payments arm raise external capital. PhonePe’s board of directors will consist of co-founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, along with Binny Bansal and Rohit Bhagat.
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3 Comments on this Story
 | Binu Pillai16 hours ago Compared to other IPOs ( Indiamart, Gland Pharma, etc ) Flipkart IPO should sell at 20000 rupees @10FV share.. People will jump in to buy.. Market bubble means that only.. Right now... |
| Dew Drops17 hours ago Even if they lost Flipkart in Nasdaq.... They should realist it in BSE/NSE. |
| Parth Ojha19 hours ago Which country world the IPO be applied? |