Quinn Emanuel Team Secures Victory for BYJU's Alpha, Inc.

Quinn Emanuel partner Benjamin Finestone and Of Counsel Kate Scherling secured victory for plaintiff BYJU’s Alpha, Inc. after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ruled that it will enter a judgment against BYJU’s founder Byju Raveendran based upon his extensive and continued refusal to comply with the Court’s discovery orders.

The Case: In 2021, BYJU’s, an Indian edtech and tutoring company, established BYJU’s Alpha in order to raise money in the Western capital markets. However, shortly after entering into a $1.2 billion U.S. term loan, BYJU’s Alpha defaulted. In 2023, the lenders’ agent, GLAS Trust Company LLC, foreclosed on the equity of BYJU’s Alpha and replaced existing management with Timothy Pohl. Pohl subsequently learned that $533 million of the loan proceeds were missing, and ultimately filed the company for chapter 11 in February 2024. Since the chapter 11 filing, BYJU’s Alpha has commenced numerous lawsuits in an effort to locate and recover the missing funds. When Raveendran’s role in the fraud became apparent, BYJU’s Alpha filed a lawsuit against him in April 2025, and quickly obtained an order for expedited discovery. However, Raveendran repeatedly failed to comply with his discovery obligations, resulting in a contempt order imposing a $10,000-a-day penalty, which accumulated to upwards of a million dollars. BYJU’s Alpha filed a motion for default judgment against Raveendran, which motion was granted over Raveendran’s objection by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

The Result: A ruling from a US Bankruptcy Court finding Raveendran liable for $533 on one count and approximately $540 million on the others.

Congratulations to the whole team!