Four months after Visa’s top innovation executive was forced out for violating company policy, two other top technology leaders have left the payments giant under very different circumstances, Recode has learned.
Two more top Visa executives have exited the company — under very different circumstances
One left for a CEO role, while the other left amid controversy.
Jason Del Rey has been a business journalist for 15 years and has covered Amazon, Walmart, and the e-commerce industry for the last decade. He was a senior correspondent at Vox.
Vicky Bindra, the company’s global head of its business-to-business product team, recently exited Visa for a role elsewhere, multiple sources told Recode. One of those people said that Bindra would soon be named CEO of another company.
Bindra confirmed his departure in a short message to Recode, but did not respond to follow-up requests for more details.
The circumstances surrounding the other executive departure are less clear. Avin Arumugam, Visa’s senior vice president overseeing its Internet of Things division, also recently exited, but it’s not known whether he was fired or chose to leave on his own.
Arumugam’s nearly two-year tenure at the company was marked by controversy thanks to a management style that some employees considered abusive, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
It was not uncommon for Arumugam to verbally dress down subordinates in front of each other, bringing some to tears, these people said. The executive’s behavior drove at least one of his administrative assistants to seek a transfer to work with a different executive, sources said, and there was at least one complaint against Arumugam lodged with Visa’s human resources department.
Arumugam did not reply to several messages seeking comment.
The departures come a few months after Visa fired its longtime innovation chief Jim McCarthy for “violating company policy.” While Visa never gave details on the violation, Recode reported that McCarthy had a history of extramarital affairs with subordinates at the company; it’s not known whether that contributed to his firing. McCarthy oversaw strategic partnerships with big tech companies like Apple and Google, and was a mainstay on the conference circuit.
Arumugam reported to McCarthy, before his ouster, and saw his role take various shapes during his less than two years at the company. He was originally hired from JPMorgan Chase to run a group that would develop partnerships between Visa and the makers of a new wave internet-connected devices, like wearables, appliances and even vehicles. Over time, he was also given oversight of Visa’s venture investments, but eventually had that taken away.
A Visa spokesperson declined to comment on the departures, but confirmed a reorganization that now has all product and partnership teams reporting to Jack Forestell, who most recently led the network’s merchant business.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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