$22 BILLION → 6 MONTHS IN JAIL - Byju’s was once India’s most valuable startup. - At its peak, the company was valued at $22 billion. 
- Big global investors backed it. 
- People called it the future of education. Today, the founder has been sentenced to 6 months in jail by a Singapore court. Not for fraud. For ignoring court orders. Since April 2024, the court asked him many times to reveal his assets. 
But he did not cooperate. He ignored court rulings, refused to disclose details, and now must surrender himself, pay $70,500 in legal costs, and explain ownership of a company called Beeaar Investco. At the same time, things got worse in the US. A Delaware court awarded more than $1 billion in judgments linked to a $1.2 billion loan. 
Lenders claim the money was improperly diverted. One of the investors now chasing him in Singapore courts is Qatar Investment Authority - a sovereign wealth fund. And his current location? Unknown. He did not respond to requests for comment. 
Nobody even knows if he is in Singapore right now. This is what a $22 billion collapse looks like up close. Not one bad decision. A pattern: 
- Hide the assets.
- Ignore the courts.
- Keep delaying everything. The real lesson here is not about edtech. It’s about what happens when founders start treating investor money like personal money. Byju’s did not just fail. It became a case study in how not to run a company.