Bob van Dijk has stepped down as the CEO of Naspers and Prosus, with M&A chief Ervin Tu taking over on an interim basis. The move coincides with Prosus ending its stake in Naspers. Tu, a former manager at SoftBank's Vision Fund, will oversee Prosus's investments in consumer internet businesses. Naspers chairman Koos Bekker emphasized that the companies have no plans to divest from Tencent. Van Dijk's departure comes after nearly a decade at the helm, during which he oversaw Prosus's successful IPO but struggled to reduce the discount in the value of Prosus and Naspers compared to Tencent. Van Dijk will remain as a consultant until September 2024.
Bob van Dijk has stepped down as the CEO of Naspers and Prosus, with Ervin Tu taking over as interim chief executive. Van Dijk will continue as a consultant until September 2024, while the companies assure that their strategic goals remain unchanged.
Prosus, the largest non-founder shareholder in Indian edtech giant Byju's, has slashed the valuation of its stake in the company to $5.1 billion, down from $6 billion just a few months ago. This markdown comes as Byju's faces various challenges, including a legal battle with lenders, board member resignations, and the departure of auditing firm Deloitte. Prosus, along with other shareholders, has written down the value of their stakes. Byju's CEO, Byju Raveendran, is working on securing a large funding round to address investor concerns and has pledged to conclude auditing for the financial years by September and December of this year.
Board members from Prosus and Sequoia have resigned from the board of Byju's, India's most valuable startup, following the departure of its auditor Deloitte, which cited the edtech giant's failure to hand over financial results for the year ended March 2022. Byju's is also facing an investigation by India's corporate affairs ministry over "various corporate governance lapses." The board now consists of just three individuals, including Byju's co-founders.
