Kishore Biyani, once India's answer to Sam Walton, bows out of retail biz

Mismatch between ambition and resources; debt does him apart, say experts

On Saturday, Future Group Founder and Chief Executive Kishore Biyani made an impassioned plea over a Zoom call to nearly 300 senior leaders to look ahead and forget the past. Through the call, made a few hours before the announcement of the sale of his retail, logistics, warehousing, and wholesale assets to Reliance Retail in a nearly Rs 25,000-crore transaction, Biyani, 59, was composed, persons privy to the conversation said.

But Biyani — India’s answer to Walmart founder Sam Walton — was aware that a big part of his life would come to an end after the call and stock