Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy denies exit

Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has denied reports that he is going to quit the e-commerce company and a formal announcement on a new CEO is likely in June during the Walmart shareholders' meeting.

In a statement to Inc42, Krishnamurthy said reports making the rounds about his exit from the company are "baseless".

"I am at Flipkart for the long term and fully committed to the company and Walmart-Flipkart partnership. As we called out it's a baseless story," he was quoted as saying.

In May last year, Walmart bought 77 per cent equity stake in Flipkart for a whopping $16 billion (Rs 1,16,256 crore).

The American retail giant and its Indian e-tail major are betting big on India despite the revised norms for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in e-commerce.

American investment bank Morgan Stanley in a report claimed that Walmart might exit the country after the new FDI norms in e-commerce came into force on February 1.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon along with senior company leaders visited Bengaluru this week, saying the retail firm is committed to the Indian market.

Commending Krishnamurthy, McMillon also addressed employees in a townhall-style meeting.

McMillon visited India at a time when Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has announced plans to launch a new e-commerce platform.

Emphasising that Reliance would double its investment and employment numbers over the next decade, Mukesh Ambani said at the "Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019" in January that Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail would soon launch a new commerce platform for small retailers -- a mega mission which will first be launched in Gujarat and then across the country.

--IANS

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