Mahendra Swarup Moves Out Of Times Internet; Vijay Jindal In Charge

We have been sitting with this story for a while. Mahendra Swarup has moved out of Times Internet Ltd, the internet division of The Times of India group. TIL is India’s largest internet company, and Swarup was at the helm of the company for the last five years. Vijay Jindal, who is a top functionary at the Times Group, is in charge now and he is believed to have moved to Times Internet office in Gurgaon on December 26.
Swarup has been put in charge of Times Private Treaty, which is a division of the Times Group which acts like a private equity fund. The Times Private Treaty division was headed by Sunil Rajshekhar till now who works in the capacity of President.
The reasons for Swarup’s exit from TIL are not known. However, the top level change has come in as a surprise for the industry watchers. Sources say that some other senior level changes are expected to happen. As the story develops, we will bring you more information.
Rafat: The move has been confirmed by Mahendra, who told me in an e-mail: “This was a personal choice of Mr. Samir Jain. Hopefully, he believed that I could add value to this significant and innovative strategic move of TOI having made a ‘success’ of their internet venture.”
Mahendra has been the CEO of the online venture for a long time now (almost 5 years, I think), and has steered the site into the biggest portal in India. My guess about the change: might have something to do with the recent news about investment into the company and possible IPO this year. Also, some rumors about the high employee turnover rate at the portal, and it might have been due to the management.
Related:
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– Former Idea Honcho Sukanto Dey To Head Indiatimes Mobile Initiatives