After bad year, Flipkart gets new CEO

Flipkart cofounders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. Photo credit: LetsIntern.

Flipkart is making changes to its top-level management. Yet again.

The company is promoting Kalyan Krishnamurthy – who was till now the head of category design – as the top boss, while current CEO and co-founder Binny Bansal will become “group CEO,” the company said. Kalyan recently rejoined Flipkart from Tiger Global – a move that was widely read as the investor tightening its reins on the company.

See: Is Flipkart’s new management rejig a step along the IPO route?

The latest shake-up isn’t a big shocker, especially since current CEO and co-founder Binny Bansal is being moved to a fancier-sounding post. There have been rumblings within the company, as well as in the industry about Kalyan running the show at the company for some time, though Flipkart has never stated that officially.

“2016 has been truly an extraordinary year for Flipkart,” Binny said in a statement.

“We effected a complete turnaround of the business and consolidated our leadership position in ecommerce… We acquired Jabong mid last year and the consolidation is going on well… PhonePe has been another runaway success story with 40 percent of all UPI transactions in India.”

Kalyan Krishnamurthy is Flipkart’s new CEO. Photo credit : Flipkart.

But despite what Binny says, Flipkart’s 2016 didn’t look like a great one to the industry, overshadowing some of its strides in business. Many also think that two CEO changes in as many years (even if the earlier change was to replace one co-founder with another) could be a sign that Flipkart’s big investors are getting antsy.

See: India’s beloved Flipkart had a crappy 2016

In the new world order, the group organization – the one Binny will head henceforth – will be to build a portfolio of new, high value-creating businesses “that are disruptive and will transform commerce in India,” the company said.

The Flipkart Group Org will look at strategies and mergers. Binny’s other responsibility as Group CEO will be to oversee capital allocation across all the group companies and CEO selection and compensation. He will also ensure that each business is led by a strong leader.

See: Flipkart has a new messiah, but the company needs to learn from history