Satyan Gajwani to replace Rishi Khiani as CEO of Times Internet; Khiani to start his own venture

Satyan Gajwani, director, new media at The Times of India Group, has been appointed CEO of Times Internet Ltd (TIL) with immediate effect. He will replace Rishi Khiani, who has put in his papers to pursue his entrepreneurial endeavours.

As per the internal mail circulated in the company, Khiani will stay on till August 17 and help Gajwani in the transition phase.

Vineet Jain, managing director, Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd., said,"Under Khiani's leadership, TIL has grown its user base by 150 per cent to 28 million visitors, has seen significant revenues and launched strategic properties such as Gaana.com and the new Indiatimes. We thank him for his contributions to the growth and success of TIL and wish him all success in his entrepreneurial endeavours."

Khiani took over as the CEO of TIL in August 2009. Prior to joining TIL, Khiani was the COO at Web18, which he had joined after he had sold his company UrbanEye to the Network18 group. Khiani changed the face of Indiatimes and launched and revamped a slew of properties. He is in Techcircle.in's Digirati: Top 25 powerful people in Indian digital business.

Gajwani, who joined BCCL in 2009, is a Stanford University graduate and is the son-in-law of BCCL Vice Chairman Samir Jain. He has previously worked with Lehman Brothers and has been significantly involved with strategy and products at Indiatimes along with Khiani.

While taking over from Khiani, Gajwani said, "We're sad to see Khiani move on, but excited for his future ahead. Indiatimes has made great progress under his leadership, and I'm excited to take it forward to new and bigger heights. These are big shoes to fill, but with such a strong team in place, I'm sure we'll succeed."