A US bankruptcy court has issued a sweeping $1.07 billion order against Byju Raveendran, citing repeated refusal to cooperate in the long-running dispute over the movement of BYJU’S Alpha funds linked to a $1.2 billion term loan.
A US bankruptcy court in Delaware has ordered BYJU’S founder Byju Raveendran to pay $1.07 billion, ruling that he consistently avoided sharing key financial documents in the BYJU’S Alpha case. The order stems from a broader inquiry into how funds tied to a $1.2 billion term loan were handled, and follows months of escalating tensions between the company’s founders and its lenders.
Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon, issuing the order on November 20, said the record showed a “persistent refusal” by Raveendran to engage with discovery obligations. The judge noted that earlier sanctions — including a $10,000-per-day penalty — had remained unpaid, leaving the court with no viable alternative. The ruling imposes $533 million in damages for aiding and abetting, and an additional $540.6 million for claims including conversion and breach of fiduciary duty.
Raveendran’s legal team criticised the outcome, calling it an expedited “default judgment” that denied him a fair opportunity to present his defence. They argued that the court relied heavily on assertions from GLAS Trust — which represents the lenders — without fully considering evidence that the loan proceeds were used for the benefit of Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd. (TLPL), the parent firm of BYJU’S, rather than for any personal gain. GLAS Trust, a US-based regulated trustee entity, leads the group of lenders that issued the $1.2 billion loan to BYJU’S Alpha and is now overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings.
Central to the dispute is the $533 million referred to as the “Alpha Funds,” which lenders allege were transferred in 2022 to the Camshaft Fund and subsequently moved again without proper explanation. A separate filing this week, drawing from a declaration by Oliver Chapman of UK-based OCI Limited, detailed an alleged money trail that routed the funds toward entities purportedly linked to Raveendran. The founders have firmly rejected these claims, calling the testimony incomplete and misleading, and stated that none of the funds were diverted for personal enrichment.
The court, however, pointed to evidence provided by the court-appointed independent director overseeing BYJU’S Alpha, including the absence of any recorded returns from the Camshaft Fund despite the size of the supposed investment. Citing earlier findings in related proceedings, the judge ruled that the record already contained enough material to calculate damages without requiring a separate hearing. Calling the case “unlike anything the court has encountered,” the judge said the remedy, though severe, was justified.
As part of the ruling, Raveendran has been directed to provide a complete accounting of the Alpha Funds. The parties must submit a proposed judgment order within seven days. Meanwhile, the founders have said they are preparing legal actions against GLAS Trust and others in multiple jurisdictions, seeking claims of no less than $2.5 billion if no settlement is reached before 2025.
The broader dispute continues to play out across insolvency and appellate forums in India, including the NCLT, NCLAT and Supreme Court, as stakeholders battle over control, lender rights and settlement terms. Fresh applications by co-founder Riju Ravindran at the NCLT have added further complexity, while interest from potential buyers — including upGrad and the Manipal Group — has intensified the ongoing asset sale process.
