Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder and director of budget airline IndiGo, has immediately resigned from the board. Gangwal has resigned from the board as a non-executive, non-independent director. Gangwal will gradually reduce his stake in about five years.
On February 4, IndiGo’s board approved the appointment of Rahul Bhatia as Managing Director. Two weeks after his partner Rahul Bhatia took over as MD, the board received his letter. Rakesh Gangwal has had a dispute with Rahul for a long time.
Can influence future development thinking.
In a letter to the board, Gangwal said, “I have been a shareholder of the company for more than 15 years. It’s natural to think about diversifying your holdings one day. My target is to gradually reduce my equity stake over the next five years. Like any other plan, future developments can influence my current thinking.
Rakesh Gangwal has resigned from his post with immediate effect by writing a letter to the board.
Gangwal family holds a 36.61% stake in the airline.
The company that operates IndiGo is InterGlobe Aviation Limited. Rakesh Gangwal has been a long-term investor for about 15 years. Gangwal and his family hold a 36.61% stake in India’s largest airline market share. At the same time, the Bhatia family holds about 38% stake in the company.
Indigo airline was started in 2006.
Rakesh, 69, has done mechanical engineering from IIT. He also holds a master’s in Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He holds US citizenship and lives in Miami, Florida.
He started his airline career with United Airlines in 1984 and was also the Chief Executive and Chairman of the US Airways Group. He founded IndiGo in 2006 with friend Rahul Bhatia on a plane.
Budget airline IndiGo has the largest stake in the Indian market. Today, IndiGo has a fleet of over 200 aircraft, operating more than 1300 daily flights. Employed 25,000 people and has 126 offices in 60 cities around the world.
In 2019, there was a dispute between Gangwal and Bhatia on corporate governance issues. Their dispute reached the courts of London, Florida, and Maryland. According to Fortune Real-Time Index, his net worth is more than Rs 34 thousand crores.
Published by- Aashay Bhujbal
Edited by-Kritika Kashyap
