With immediate effect, Bob van Dijk, the chief executive of Dutch e-commerce investment Prosus and Naspers, the latter of which is the company’s principal shareholder, has resigned from the top role, including his positions on the boards.
Ervin Tu, who was previously the Group chief investment officer at Prosus, has been promoted to the position of interim chief executive officer for the companies that hold significant investments in major software, payments, edtech, and food delivery organisations and startups all over the world.
The companies have not disclosed the reason that van Dijk, who is 50 years old, resigned but have stated that the decision was made through “mutual” agreement. The news announcement sent by the companies unusually did not include a remark from van Dijk, who had acquired the post of chief executive officer at the companies in 2014.
Someone with knowledge of the companies suggested that the transition had been planned for some time, as van Dijk had accomplished almost all of the goals he had outlined for himself. This was the case because van Dijk had achieved almost all his goals. For the next year, he will maintain his role as a consultant to the boards.
Read also: E-commerce giants, Naspers, Prosus to lay off staffs
More on how he managed Prosus and Naspers
Van Dijk leaves office having resolved one of the complicated problems that arose during his tenure as commissioner. During his lengthy time at Naspers, the company struggled to keep up with the rising value of its holding in Tencent, where it is still the single-largest stakeholder.
In 2019, van Dijk listed Prosus to handle the Tencent interest, and it also initiated actions to remedy the value gap. These measures included buybacks of Tencent shares and the sale of Tencent shares.
His cross-shareholding system between Prosus and Naspers, which was criticised for its difficulty due to its intricacy, was constructed by him and ultimately dissolved by him. On Monday, the cross-shareholding structure that had existed between the two companies was finally eliminated.
During his tenure at the company, Prosus also placed aggressive bets in several international countries, including India. Today, the portfolio companies owned by Prosus are at the forefront of the food delivery, online learning, and payments processing businesses in India.
“The group’s strategic goals remain unchanged, and it is on target to deliver on its commitments, including achieving consolidated ecommerce trading profit during the first half of FY25,” the companies said.
Other details
Naspers’ rise to prominence as a significant worldwide investor was catalysed by a 2001 investment of 32 million dollars in Tencent of China. Over the course of the past twenty years, Naspers has strengthened its position as the preeminent supporter by investing money in a variety of businesses. Some of these businesses include StackOverflow, Delivery Hero, Trip.com, Udemy, PayU, Byju’s, Swiggy, and Meesho.
After the departure of numerous other senior employees, notably Larry Illg, a longtime investor who supervised Prosus’ investments in the food and edtech industries, Van Dijk has decided to leave the company. In the month of July, Prosus criticised Byju’s, the most valuable edtech startup in the world, for failing to adhere to proper reporting and governance practices at its Bengaluru-based headquarters.
In addition, Prosus is working to divest a growing number of its businesses and reduce its operating expenses. It sold PayU’s global business to Rapyd, a company based in London, for $610 million last month. The deal did not include PayU’s businesses in India, Turkey, or Southeast Asia. As the economic climate deteriorated over the course of the previous year, the company decided to abandon its high-profile, $4.7 billion acquisition of payments behemoth BillDesk.
Tu, a seasoned dealmaker who joined Prosus from SoftBank two years ago, made this statement in a press release: “Prosus is operating with momentum. I am honored to assume the role and help shape the future of the Group. I couldn’t be more excited about the team around me and to get started.”