Why Ashneer Grover Quit EY Despite ₹1 Crore Salary

Ashneer Grover, co-founder of BharatPe, left his ₹1 crore salary job at Ernst & Young (EY) on the very first day. A resurfaced video on social media has brought attention to this decision, where Grover explains why he quit.

According to Grover, he joined EY with an attractive salary package, but upon entering the office on his first day, he felt the atmosphere was too dull. He observed that his colleagues appeared like “living corpses” with little enthusiasm or energy. Disheartened by this, Grover pretended to have chest pain, left the office, and never returned.

For Grover, a dynamic and even chaotic office environment, where people are passionate about their work, is essential for productivity. In the viral video, he even remarked, “If people say an office has a toxic culture, that’s the best place to work,” suggesting that high-pressure environments yield results.

Grover’s statement about work culture sparked mixed reactions from the business community. Billionaire Harsh Goenka criticized Grover’s comment, saying that promoting a toxic work culture can be harmful to employees’ well-being and mental health.

The resurfacing of Grover’s comments coincides with growing scrutiny of Ernst & Young’s work culture, particularly following the tragic death of 26-year-old chartered accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil. Anna’s mother blamed EY’s excessive workload for her daughter’s death and wrote an open letter to the company’s India Chairman, Rajiv Memani, which has since gone viral.

This case has intensified debates around corporate hustle culture and employee welfare, especially in large organizations.

Aakhir Tak Editor-in-Chief

See Full Bio