Byju Raveendran’s reputation reboot: Can the master salesman sell redemption?

Once, he convinced some of the world’s most formidable investors to pour billions into an Indian education startup that barely had a Chief Financial Officer, or CFO. Today, Byju Raveendran is trying to sell something else: his innocence. 

After a few years of courtroom battles, a public ouster from his own company, and a tarnished public image, the man behind India's most famous edtech brand is back in the spotlight. But this time, his pitch isn’t to VCs or middle-class parents—it’s to the media, and more crucially, to a public that has witnessed the dramatic rise and fall of the Byju’s empire.

Since February 2025, Raveendran has done something he never did during the zenith of his fame—he joined social media. Once famously elusive on public platforms—he didn’t even have a Twitter or LinkedIn account when his company was valued at $22 billion—Raveendran now posts regularly. 

His first appearance on LinkedIn came in the form of a long, emotionally charged note that doubled as his public defence. In it, he squarely blamed “vulture lenders” and opportunistic investors for the Byju’s collapse. The comments below the post were largely supportive, many from former or current employees, and Raveendran made it a point to personally thank almost every single one of them. It was a controlled environment, a platform where dissent was largely absent and the narrative could be shaped on his terms.