Zoho CEO's Wife Alleges Transferring Ownership Without Looping Her In, Sridhar Vembu Says 'Complete Fiction'

File Photo

New Delhi: Sridhar Vembu, a co-founder of Zoho, has been charged by his wife with secretly selling some of his firm stock and giving it to his sister and her husband. The CEO of the $5 billion software development business Zoho, Sridhar, and his wife Pramila Srinivasan are going through a divorce. When Sridhar made the decision to return to Tamil Nadu in early 2020, the pair lived in California, US, for about 25 years.

In August 2021, Sridhar filed for divorce in California. According to Forbes, Vembu allegedly transferred the intellectual property of Zoho to India in a complicated arrangement, according to Pramila's court documents. ()

She said in a court document filed in January that "he decided to make fraudulent 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 obtaining my approval. ()

According to community property law in California, a spouse during a marriage is not permitted to discreetly dispose of assets without the other spouse's approval, according to a statement from Pramila's lawyer John Farley to Forbes. After all, "community" property is actually jointly owned, so there is a need to be open with your spouse and avoid engaging in covert activities to try to get around the legal requirement of 50-50 ownership, he said.

In accordance with a memorandum of association that showed them holding 43 percent and 57 percent of the new firm, Zoho Corporation Private Limited, respectively, Vembu and his brother-in-law Rajendran Dandapani established it in India in December 2011, according to Forbes. But, Vembu's attorneys have insisted that he has only ever held 5 percent of the India-based business.

Sridhar Vembu, the founder and CEO of Indian SaaS giant Zoho Corp, stated on Twitter that it is "total lie" that he abandoned his estranged wife and kid.

Vembu stated in a Tweet that no such transfers took place.

"My firm shares were never given to anyone else by me. In our 27-year existence, I spent the first 24 years of my life in the US, and a large portion of the company's foundation was created in India. The ownership reflects that "He tweeted.

1/ With vicious personal attacks and slander on my character, it is time for me to respond.

This is a deeply painful personal thread. My personal life, in contrast to my business life, has been a long tragedy. Autism destroyed our lives and left me suicidally depressed.

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) March 14, 2023