An extraordinary general meeting convened by Byju's investors to discuss the removal of the company's CEO and founder, Byju Raveendran, reportedly encountered significant disruptions attributed to alleged sabotage attempts.

What Happened: The meeting faced delays and challenges as numerous individuals attempted to disrupt proceedings by joining the Zoom video-conferencing link with fake identities and impersonating legitimate investors, multiple media reports said. It reportedly took over an hour to verify attendees, with individuals using names like Sir Michael Knight and Natalia Cruz.

The disruptions began with a phishing attack aimed at cancelling the meeting, but despite these attempts, the EGM commenced as scheduled at 9 a.m. IST. Out of the initial 170 attempted attendees, only 37 were verified, including Byju’s employee-shareholders, legal representatives and investors.

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Meanwhile, Byju Raveendran, along with his co-founder and wife Divya Gokulnath, and brother Riju Ravindran, opted to abstain from the meeting.

Voting at the EGM was expected to conclude by 12:30 p.m. IST, with the results to be determined later in the day after the independent scrutiniser’s report is received.

The three board members collectively hold approximately 26.3% of shares in Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, Byju's parent company, while the investors seeking their removal possess over 30% shareholding as of June 2022.

However, a court order issued earlier in the week has temporarily halted the enforcement of any decisions made in the EGM until the next hearing in March, as per a petition filed by the company against its investors.

Byju’s has faced mounting challenges since the beginning of 2022, including allegations of accounting irregularities, course mis-selling and significant layoffs. The company has taken steps to address these issues, including securing additional funding from early investors, establishing an advisory council, appointing a new CEO and exploring asset divestments.

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