₹1,332 crore ($160 million). The Murthy couple's initial investment in Cloudtail amounted to ₹417 crore ($50 million), rendering this transaction immensely profitable for them. Also read: Byju's $200 million rights issue fully subscribed; third party agency to check usage of funds: CEO Raveendran The sale of Cloudtail shares has resulted in a substantial profit of around ₹915 crore ($110 million) for Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty, signifying an impressive threefold return on their investment made over eight years ago.
This success can largely be attributed to the outstanding growth and achievements of Catamaran over the past decade. Ownership of Cloudtail by the Murthy family was facilitated through the Hober Mallow Trust, with Sudha Murty holding an 80 percent stake in the firm, while Narayana Murthy held the remaining shares. Established in 2014, Cloudtail is a collaboration between Catamaran and Amazon, aimed to facilitate and onboard merchants onto Amazon's e-commerce platform.
Initially, it swiftly grew to become Amazon's largest merchant, driving over 50 percent of the platform's total sales. Also read: Fast-food chains push more value meals as in-store footfall remains weak However, shifts in e-commerce regulations led Amazon to reduce its stake in Cloudtail, retaining only 24 percent and selling the rest to Catamaran. Consequently, Cloudtail announced its closure as a merchant in 2022 due to a substantial decline in sales and profits.
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