Exclusive: Amidst stock market catastrophe, Jason Kothari quits Infibeam

Within five months of joining Infibeam Avenues, Jason Kothari has left the Ahmedabad-based firm. Kothari joined Infibeam as a President after serving Snapdeal for about 18 months.

According to a company's filing with stock exchange, he took up the Senior Advisory role at Infibeam. Entrackr sources indicate that he had resigned from the company in the beginning of the last month.

While the reason for his resignation is yet to be known, Kothari LinkedIn profile confirms that he had moved from Infibeam Avenues. His resignation from the digital payments and e-commerce enabler to businesses and the government comes at a time when the company is going through a very difficult phase.

Almost a month ago, the stock of Infibeam nosedived in tune of 73 per cent in a single day (Sept 28) after a fake WhatsApp message alleging lack of corporate governance. It was one of the largest stock falls after Satyam Computers Services in January 2009. It lost about Rs 9,200 crore market cap in a single day.

Since then, the company witnessed a further 43 per cent decline in market cap. For context, Infibeam Avenue’s one share was worth Rs 237.60 on September 18. Currently, it’s trading at Rs 33.15 on the National stock exchange (NSE).

Entrackr has communicated Kothari for confirmation. We will update the post as he responds.

Kothari had joined Infibeam Avenues to lead strategy corporate development, international operations, and investor relations functions. He had played a key role for resurrecting SoftBank’s portfolio in India including leading divestment process at Snapdeal.

Kothari managed Freecharge’s sale to Axis Bank, Vulcan to Future Group and Unicommerce to Infibeam.

Previously, he was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Housing after the board fired Rahul Yadav (its then CEO and Co-Founder) from the company. He turned around the business of SoftBank-backed struggling real estate platform Housing.

Ultimately, he engineered acquisition of the beleaguered firm to PropTiger in an all-stock deal worth $70 million. The acquisition helped investors including SoftBank to get some return on the $120 million investment.