When Kunal Shah, CEO, CRED decided to admit how much he earned, during an Instagram exchange, little did he imagine that he would receive flak for what he may have thought to be a harmless and ‘humble’ revelation.
Shah said that he earned Rs 15,000 per month, and when he was asked why he drew such a small salary, he stated in his Instagram story that he believed he should earn a bigger salary only when the company started earning profits. In other words, he justified the low salary by revealing that CRED, the Indian fintech firm, wasn’t profitable, as yet, and hence, in no position to pay him a higher salary.
When he was asked by an Instagram user during an ‘Ask me anything’ session, as to how he manages to survive on Rs 15,000 a month, he admitted that he lives off what he got for selling his company, FreeCharge in the past.
While some people on social media thought it was rather ‘humble’ of a CEO to accept such a low salary and also admit it, others felt it was just a way to avoid paying tax.
When a user posted a screen grab of his words on Twitter, many tweets started pouring in saying that Shah was just trying to save tax; that he is an angel investor and that he may be spending a lot on his lifestyle.
