Owner of Zoho – Sridhar Vembu depriving wife, autistic son of their financial rights

Owner of multi-billion-dollar software tech company Sridhar Vembu who abandoned his wife and autistic son is now depriving them of their financial rights. After spending more than a quarter of a century in the San Francisco Bay area, in 2020 he left the US unexpectedly to live in a small village of Tamil Nadu in India.

According to sources, without any courtesy for their relationship, nine months after leaving for India, Vembu allegedly texted Pramila Srinivasan- his wife of three decades on Whatsapp messenger, asking for a divorce. Leaving her with chills and no practical explanation while she takes care of her 23-year-old son who is autistic.

Sridhar Vembu – the CEO and Co-founder of Zoho a software company valued at nearly $5 billion by Forbes is also accused of defrauding his own wife and depriving their son of his financial rights. As per his wife Pramila Srinivasan, Vembu not only abandoned them but also transferred the major chunk of his Zoho shares to the name of his sister and her husband.

In court documents filed in January this year, Srinivasan said that Sridhar Vembu did all this deliberately and it was executed without her awareness or consent making it a violation of their shared assets.

“My husband of 29 years not only abandoned me and his son with special needs in 2020, he decided to make fictitious transfers or ‘sales’ of our most valuable community asset to his family members without their paying any cash or other consideration, and without ever telling me or asking my permission,” said Pramila Srinivasan in the court.

Vembu has been managing and running Zoho for more than a quarter century, but suddenly his sister Radha and brother Sekar own the majority of the company as per the Indian filings.

Radha who also works at Zoho as a Product Manager now has a 47.8 percent stake in the company making it worth an estimated USD 2.2 billion. While Sekar who is the founder of Vembu Technologies owns 35.2 percent share accounting for another USD 1.6 billion.

Surprisingly, Vembu now only owns 5 percent which is worth USD 225 million. His wife says that he did this to deprive her of her share.

Ram Srinivasan – paternal uncle of the Vembu siblings says that Radha holds the majority of shares for her brother Sridhar Vembu, saying that it is Sridhar’s money claiming that her brother asked her to hold it. As per him, when the divorce is all done the entire money will go back to Sridhar Vembu one way or another.

The divorce case is currently ongoing in California, US where the couple lived. The community property law in California does not allow a spouse to secretly dispose of assets without obtaining the other spouse’s consent.

The unconventional redistribution of shares, characterized by a significant allocation to Vembu’s sister and brother, speaks volumes about the deliberate nature of his actions to potentially deprive his wife and son of their rightful entitlement.

The stark shift in ownership raises pertinent questions about Vembu’s intentions, as his ownership in the company has seemingly diminished to a mere 5 percent, despite his long-standing role as its owner.

Such a striking alteration in share distribution underscores the gravity of the situation, suggesting a calculated strategy rather than a mere coincidence, as it challenges the credibility of his motivations behind these complex financial manoeuvres.

The alleged actions involving covert and potentially fraudulent actions to deprive his wife and son of their rightful share in the company have cast a harsh spotlight on Sridhar Vembu, subjecting his character to intense scrutiny.

These revelations not only question the transparency of his financial decisions but also raise concerns about his ethical and moral standing, as his personal choices intersect with his role as a prominent tech entrepreneur.