Sachin Bansal Bids Adieu To Flipkart In Facebook Post
Sachin Bansal plans to catch up on gaming and improve his coding skills.
Flipkart Ltd. Co-Founder Sachin Bansal, who will exit the Bengaluru-based company after the Walmart deal, plans to catch up on gaming and brush up his coding skills as he takes time off to finish a few pending personal projects.
U.S. retailer Walmart Inc. yesterday acquired a 77 percent stake in India’s largest online retailer for about $16 billion in its biggest acquisition to date. The deal values the 11-year old e-commerce firm at $20.8 billion.
Sachin Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart with Binny Bansal in 2007, will exit the company after the deal. Binny will stay on.
Sachin and Binny, who are not related and formerly worked for Amazon.com Inc, like their U.S. rival began by selling books when they founded Flipkart. The company sealed the world’s largest e-commerce deal with Walmart, cementing India’s place in the global e-tailing league.
“I’ll be taking some long time off and focus on finishing a few personal projects which I haven’t been able to find time for. Will catch up on gaming (and see what kids are playing these days) and brush up on my coding skills,” Bansal said in a Facebook post.
The emotional farewell post went on to say: “Sadly my work here is done and after 10 years, it’s time to hand over the baton and move on from Flipkart.”
Sachin Bansal said he will be “cheering from the outside” and urged Flipkart team to continue with the momentum.
“...But I’ll be watching and cheering from the outside — Flipsters, you better continue to do a good job!” he said.
Recalling the cherished relationships and “amazing experiences”, Bansal said Flipkart had truly upheld customer centricity and that he got to work with the best people.
“We took on some of the biggest challenges and solved many complex problems for india,” Bansal reminisced.
Speaking about Sachin’s exit at a meeting with editors, Binny Bansal said, “Sachin and I go a long way back. For me it’s an emotional time that Sachin will not be part of the next phase of Flipkart’s journey."
(This copy has been modified to include Binny Bansal’s comments.)