Buzz over Rahul Yadav's resignation gets louder

Sources say investors of the company have expressed their desire to speak to the management shortly and it could be about discussing Yadav's role in the company.

Has Rahul Yadav, chief executive officer (CEO) of Housing.com, quit again? Media - both the print and the social variety - was busy answering that question throughout Thursday.

While the 26-year-old CEO could not be reached for a comment since he was abroad, Housing.com denied the reports. 

A source in the know, however, said the company’s investors have expressed their desire to speak to the management and it could be about discussing Yadav’s role in the company. 

Housing.com sources said they had been expecting Yadav to resign after he alloted all of his shares worth Rs 150-200 crore (Rs 1.5-2 billion) to all the 2,251 employees of Housing.com this May. 

“Rahul has done this only to secure his exit from the company. If you really want to motivate employees, you do not give away you entire share,” said the source, who did not wish to be identified. 

Giving away his stake, Yadav had said, “I’m just 26 and it’s too early in life to get serious about money, etc.” Locon Solutions, owns Housing.com.

Yadav had earlier resigned from the CEO’s post on April 30 after writing a scathing email to investors and then apologised, and withdrew his resignation on May 5.

Investors have bet highly on Housing.com, pumping in over $121 million in four rounds of funding so far.  

Venture capitalists now hold nearly 70 per cent in the company, the chief among them being Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners, Falconedge and Haresh Chawla, former group chief executive officer of Network18 and Viacom18 Media, and Zishaan Hayath, co-founder of Chaupaati Bazaar, a phone commerce company. 

In the next couple of quarters, Housing.com plans to increase the listings to 10,000 to 12,000 per day against 5,000 at present. 

The company, currently in 55 cities, also plans to expand to 100-150 cities in the next few quarters. 

Eyeing the position of number one property portal in the market, Housing.com acquired Indian Real Estate Forum in April for around Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) in order to improve the availability and accessibility of independent information for home buyers. 

This month, Housing.com acquired Realty Business Intelligence, for Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million).