Amid ongoing divorce and custody dispute, Rippling co-founder Prasanna Sankar's wife accuses him of...

Rippling co-founder and India-born tech billionaire Prasanna Sankar, whose net worth is estimated at USD 1.3 billion by Forbes, has made headlines recently after posting serious accusations against his wife, Dhivya Sashidhar on social media. Sankar alleged that his wife was unfaithful during their marriage and suggested her affair came at a time when he was trying to get custody of their son. His posts quickly gained attention and seemed to turn public sympathy in his favour.

However, Dhivya Sashidhar’s version of the story is completely different and paints a disturbing picture of their marriage. In an interview with The San Francisco Standard, she described her marriage to Sankar as the “worst nightmare of my life.” Her claims are backed by court records, emails, messages and photos that have been reviewed by the media.

Shocking Allegations of Abuse and Control

According to Dhivya, her husband controlled her life, made unwanted sexual advances, and even pressured her into having sex soon after childbirth, calling it a man’s “primal need”. When she refused, he allegedly threatened to seek sex outside the marriage. Emails from 2019 reveal that Sankar contacted escorts and asked about their rates, before changing his mind and apologising to his wife. In another email from the same day, he asked her to consider an open relationship, which she declined. 

Over the years, Sankar also moved his family across countries, from California to Washington, and later to Singapore, which Sashidhar claims was done to avoid paying taxes. She testified in court that these moves were not part of the family’s plans and disrupted their lives deeply. While she was working remotely for Microsoft, she says Sankar would pressure her to take time off just to have sex and threaten to find other women if she refused.

Life in Singapore Turned Darker

While Prasanna Sankar has not denied many of these claims, the case has brought to light the dark and complex side of a relationship that looked perfect on the surface. The legal battle between the two is ongoing, with serious implications for both their reputations and the custody of their son.

Prasanna Sankar’s Side of the Story

Tech entrepreneur Prasanna Sankar has spoken out against the serious allegations made by his estranged wife, Dhivya Sasidharan, strongly denying any wrongdoing. “Not a single charge against me has ever been upheld in any court around the world. All the complaints made by my wife so far have been dismissed,” Sankar said.

He went on to claim that Dhivya was involved in an extramarital affair, an accusation he believes is backed by evidence from the husband of the man allegedly involved. Sankar stated that the evidence included text messages and hotel booking records. According to him, the divorce proceedings became more bitter after he confronted her with this information.

Following this confrontation, the couple reportedly began negotiating the financial terms of their divorce. Sankar claims that when Dhivya was unhappy with the settlement being discussed, she filed a false police complaint accusing him of assault.

He further alleged that Dhivya abducted their young son and took him to the United States without his consent, prompting him to file an international child abduction case. Sankar says that the US court ruled in his favour and that a formal agreement was reached, under which he paid her around Rs 9 crore, a monthly maintenance of Rs 4.3 lakh, and was granted joint custody of their son.

Here's a series of tweets made by the Rippling co-founder: 

My name is Prasanna, who previously founded Rippling (worth 10B); I'm going through a divorce. I'm now on the run from the Chennai police hiding outside of Tamil Nadu. This is my story.

— Prasanna S (myprasanna) March 2, 2025

Later Disputes and Police Involvement

According to Sankar, problems reignited after Dhivya returned to Chennai to co-parent their child. He claims she later refused to follow the agreement, particularly the clause requiring their son’s passport to be stored in a shared locker. This disagreement led to fresh legal disputes, with Sankar going back to court to seek enforcement of the custody terms.

He alleged that instead of attending a court hearing, Dhivya filed another police complaint against him. Sankar said that police officers showed up at his hotel late at night, which led him to leave the premises with his son to avoid what he described as an unfair arrest.

He claims to have provided proof that his son was safe and well, but authorities still continued their search. According to Sankar, the police not only harassed his family and friends but also demanded Rs 25 lakh in extortion. He further alleged that they illegally tracked his movements, seized a caretaker’s phone who had been paid just Rs 200 through UPI, and even raided a previous Airbnb accommodation.

Sankar maintains that the actions taken against him are unjust and driven by false complaints, while he continues to seek legal remedies through the courts.