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Aakash CEO and MD Deepak Mahrotra stepping down

Entrackr · 2d ago

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Deepak Mehrotra, the Managing Director and CEO of Aakash Educational Services Limited, is resigning from his position, sources aware of the development told Entrackr. Mehrotra’s exit comes 16 months after he was appointed in April 2024. According to sources, Mehrotra has submitted his resignation and is serving his notice period. While there is no official statement from Mehrotra, his recent LinkedIn post said, “Each of the last 481 days of the rebuild journey has extracted every ounce of my energy every day but has been gratifying. I traveled extensively, meeting employees from almost 70 branches to understand their aspirations and build trust. We've focused on reinforcing belief and confidence in leadership, crafting new business models, and accelerating technology adoption." Mehrotra joined Aakash with a mandate to steer the company through its Aakash 2.0 strategy, which focuses on business model transformation, role consolidation, and aggressive talent hiring. The company also went through layoffs in September, letting go of 80 to 100 employees, which was the first major round of job cuts since Byju’s acquired the company for nearly $1 billion in 2021. Last year, Entrackr exclusively reported that Mehrotra would receive an annual salary of Rs 5 crore starting from the last fiscal year (FY25). Aakash also allotted employee stock ownership plan (ESOPs) worth Rs 25 crore to Mehrotra, which can vest equally over four years starting from April 2025. This leadership change surfaces amid ongoing tussle within AESL, where the founding Chaudhry family has resisted full integration. In March last year, both companies withdrew their merger petition to operate independently under the Think and Learn brand. Aakash has yet to file its annual report for FY24 and FY25.