Housing.com appoints Rishabh Gupta as interim CEO

Gupta currently is working as the Chief Operating Officer at the SoftBank-backed portal

Realty portal Housing.com has appointed Rishabh Gupta as interim CEO after it sacked co-founder and ex-CEO Rahul Yadav last week.

Gupta, who is currently Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the SoftBank-backed portal, has been named as interim CEO with immediate effect, sources said.

Rishabh Gupta, Haresh Chawla and Abhishek Anand (Chief Technical Officer) will be joining the company's operating committee, they added.

On July 1, Housing.com's board had sacked Yadav with immediate effect, saying that his behaviour towards investors and media was not "befitting" of a CEO.

The company had also said that Yadav would not be an employee or part of the portal in any manner.

The board had unanimously agreed to bring Yadav's tenure to a close, with reference to "his behaviour towards investors, ecosystem and the media".

"The Board believed that his behaviour is not befitting of a CEO and is detrimental to the company, known for its innovative approach to product development, market expansion and brand building," the statement had said.

Yadav had been in the thick of a controversy after he questioned the intellectual capability of the board and had put in his papers on May 5. Later, he apologised and withdrew his resignation.

Last month, he hogged the limelight again when he gave away all his holding, worth about Rs 200 crore, in the company to the employees.

In December last year, Housing.Com had raised USD 90 million through private equity infusion from SoftBank Group along with Falcon Edge and other existing investors. SoftBank has over 30 per cent stake in the company.

Within two years of its founding, the company has expanded from its original rent and resale proposition to include PGs and hostels, serviced apartments, land, plot projects, and new projects.

Housing.Com currently has more than 2,551 employees in over 100 cities across India.