BharatPe appoints investor's lawyer on Board amid probe and tussle

Fintech unicorn BharatPe appointed the lawyer of one of its investors on its Board recently even as the company is in the middle of an audit to probe alleged irregularities and a heated boardroom battle with Founder & MD Ashneer Grover at its centre.

According to data from Tofler, John Bernard Weinstein, a lawyer who is a partner and deputy general counsel at venture capital firm Insight Partners, joined the BharatPe Board on February 2. This appointment takes the number of members on the company’s Board to nine. 

This development comes days after embattled founder Ashneer Grover withdrew his nomination of CEO Suhail Sameer from the board, alleging in a media interview that Sameer manipulated him into going on a voluntary leave.

After media reports said that co-founder Shashvat Mansukhani has also sided with Grover on CEO Sameer’s removal, the company came out with a statement on behalf of Mansukhani where he throws his weight behind the CEO.

Meanwhile, Grover has said while he denies all wrongdoing, he will leave the company if investors buy out his 9.5 per cent stake for Rs 4,000 crore, valuing the company at $6 billion.

Last month, Grover went on voluntary leave till March amid concern about a toxic work culture in the company and growing murmurs about his abrasive relationship with investors and other board members.

According to the data from Tracxn, Grover’s stake of 9.5 per cent in the company was worth Rs 1,915 crore based on the last funding round in August 2021.