Why is Sachin Bansal disappointed with the Flipkart-Walmart deal
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What went wrong?
Sachin Bansal who was deeply involved in the negotiations with Walmart till even a few weeks ago, but has now been left “very disappointed”. Recent events have left him on the sidelines, as the company he cofounded a decade ago notched up its biggest milestone. Bansal will sell his 5.5% stake for about $1 billion and exit the company, leaving behind questions on his abrupt departure. Even till the final leg of the discussions with Walmart, Bansal was expecting to “buy more shares and not sell his stake”, the sources said.
ET Online
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What he wrote
“Sadly my work here is done and after 10 years, it’s time to hand over the baton and move on from Flipkart,” Sachin Bansal wrote in a Facebook post, hours after it was publicly announced that Walmart would buy a 77% stake in Flipkart. He was conspicuous by his absence as the other leaders of Flipkart and Walmart gathered to announce the blockbuster deal on Wednesday.
BCCL
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Is Walmart to blame?
Company insiders said as the talks progressed, Walmart did not see a role for two cofounders on the board of the ten-year-old company. But they were clear about the one person they did want — Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the former Tiger Global executive who had a previous stint at eBay to his credit. As the hands-on manager, Krishnamurthy has won the loyalty of the rank and file at Flipkart. Neither the company’s board nor Walmart was keen to upset this delicate balance.
ET Online
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Sachin's future plans
Sachin wrote on his Facebook post, “I’ll be watching and cheering from the outside,” he added that in his time off he will brush his “coding and gaming skills. It is expected that he will make a comeback in a second innings, but “definitely not in the ecommerce space”, said people aware of the 36-year-old entrepreneur’s thinking. “Sachin thinks there is the unfinished business of building a billion-dollar company from India, a truly Indian one," they believe.
