BigBasket denies CEO exit reports, says Hari Menon to stay on

BigBasket has denied media reports suggesting that Chief Executive Officer Hari Menon is preparing to step down and that Tata Group has initiated succession planning.

The clarification follows a report in The Economic Times earlier today that said Menon was in talks with Tata Sons’ board to identify a successor as his term neared completion. According to the publication, Tata was considering a leadership transition to strengthen BigBasket’s position against rivals in the quick-commerce market.

In a statement issued by the company later in the day, Menon dismissed the report as “unfounded.” The statement read:

• Founders and timelines: “The founding team is not bound by any exit timelines. We founders and our commitment to BigBasket remain unwavering as we continue to drive the company forward.”
  
  

• Succession planning: “There have been no discussions with the Board about succession planning, and our current leadership structure remains intact.”
  
  

• Hiring a new CEO: “There are no plans to hire a new CEO for BigBasket, and no formal search process has been initiated for such a role. We are fully focused on maintaining stability, innovation, and growth in the business.”
  
  

The company also stressed that its leadership team remains intact and committed to steering BigBasket’s operations.

BigBasket, co-founded in 2011 by Menon along with Vipul Parekh, VS Sudhakar, Abhinay Choudhari and VS Ramesh, was acquired by Tata Digital in 2021 through a majority stake in its B2B arm. Since then, the platform has expanded from scheduled deliveries into BB Now, its quick-commerce offering, as competition from Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart intensified.

Reports about possible leadership change surfaced amid scrutiny of BigBasket’s financial performance. Tata Sons’ annual report had shown a 3% revenue dip in its consumer-facing arm in FY25, while losses widened year-on-year. However, BigBasket insists that such pressures do not amount to leadership churn, reiterating that the founders continue to guide the company’s next growth phase.

The rebuttal comes at a time of wider shifts in Tata Digital, which last month appointed Sajith Sivanandan as its CEO, marking the conglomerate’s third leadership change at the digital arm since 2019.

For now, BigBasket has made clear that speculation about Menon’s exit is premature. “We are fully focused on delivering value to our customers, employees, partners and stakeholders,” the company said.