Byju's founder to appeal U.S. court order to pay over $1B in bankruptcy case | TechCrunch

"Byju Raveendran, the embattled founder of Indian ed-tech giant Byju's, has blasted a U.S. bankruptcy court's order directing him to pay more than $1.07 billion. He is denying wrongdoing, accusing lenders of misleading the court, and vowing to appeal a ruling that marks a dramatic fall for a onetime poster boy of India's startup boom."

"The Delaware bankruptcy judge issued a default judgment after finding that Raveendran had repeatedly ignored court orders and provided "evasive, incomplete" responses regarding about $533 million that Byju's U.S. unit allegedly transferred in 2022 and never recovered. The judge also cited issues with a separate limited-partnership stake later valued at roughly $540.6 million. The ruling, dated November 20, stems from legal action by lenders seeking to claw back funds linked to the $1.2 billion term loan they extended to the ed-tech startup in 2021."

"Earlier this year, in April, a group of U.S. lenders led by GLAS Trust sued Raveendran and his wife, Byju's co-founder Divya Gokulnath, in the Delaware bankruptcy court over the missing $533 million in loan proceeds. The couple denied wrongdoing at the time and accused lenders of attempting a hostile takeover of the company. They later said they planned to pursue a $2.5 billion lawsuit against GLAS Trust and others in India and other jurisdictions, though no such filing has publicly surfaced. This was in addition to the complaint Byju's filed in the New York Supreme Court challenging the acceleration of the term loan in 2023."

Byju Raveendran, founder of ed-tech company Byju's, was ordered by a Delaware bankruptcy court to pay more than $1.07 billion after a default judgment. The judge found Raveendran repeatedly ignored court orders and provided "evasive, incomplete" responses about roughly $533 million allegedly transferred by Byju's U.S. unit in 2022 and not recovered. The court also cited problems with a limited-partnership stake later valued at about $540.6 million. U.S. lenders who extended a $1.2 billion term loan in 2021 sought to claw back funds. Raveendran denies wrongdoing, accuses lenders of misleading the court, and vows to appeal.

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