Prosus tightens grip on JET: Founder Jitse Groen is… taken away

Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET), the parent company of the delivery platform in Belgium, has announced a major transition: its founder and long-time CEO, Jitse Groen, is leaving the management of the company he created in 2000. Behind the official announcement, a reality is emerging: Prosus, the new owner, is putting its people in charge and imposing its strategy, de facto precipitating the founder's departure.

Jitse Groen © Just Eat Takeaway.com

A transition that looks like an ouster? In any case, it's the end of an era and the beginning of a seemingly forceful takeover. After a quarter of a century at the helm of Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET), founder and long-time CEO Jitse Groen announced he is "leaving the company today." This decision confirms the changing scale of the Amsterdam-based delivery giant: now under the control of technology investor Prosus, the latter is installing its own people in charge to "reignite growth," marking a clear break with the vision of its founder.

The press release is clear, handing the reins to Roberto Gandolfo, current chairman of JET's supervisory board and senior executive at Prosus Europe. The appointment is effective January 1, 2026, though still subject to approval by the Dutch central bank. However, reading between the lines suggests a sharp acceleration of the timeline. While the new CEO's start date is expected to be January 1, 2026, Jitse Groen is referring to the immediate transition, a stark contrast to the smooth transitions typically seen in large, publicly traded companies.

This opens the door to interpretations, suggesting either a major strategic divergence or a strong desire on the part of the new, powerful shareholder to dictate the pace. It resembles a gardening leave , a withdrawal from operations, leaving the company on autopilot or under unofficial interim management for a procedural period. This usually indicates a breakdown in the agreement.

Prosus is positioning itself: the iFood strategy?

Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Prosus, makes no secret of it: JET is entering a "new phase under Prosus ownership." The vocabulary used ("execution," "move fast," "transform") sounds like a polite disavowal of the recent management, deemed possibly too slow by the new owners.

The designated successor, Roberto Gandolfo, is known for his impressive track record. Currently chairman of the supervisory board of JET and head of Prosus Europe, he is a product of the investment fund's network. He led the Brazilian company iFood (another Prosus portfolio company), growing the platform from 1 million to 120 million monthly orders. iFood is now renowned as an extremely efficient and profitable logistics powerhouse. Importing this model to Europe, where labor laws and regulations governing gig workers are much stricter, will be a major challenge for the new CEO.

But by appointing an expert in hypergrowth and operational optimization, Prosus is signaling its roadmap: profitability is no longer enough; it must once again become a "technology champion." To solidify this, Fabricio Bloisi is replacing Gandolfo as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, ensuring total control over governance, from strategy to operations.

"I am leaving the company today after a quarter of a century. I am immensely proud of the work accomplished by our team and I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who contributed to this extraordinary adventure. Moedig voorwaarts!" Jitse Groen , former CEO of Just Eat Takeaway.com

The end of the student adventure and the founder's dilemma

Jitse Groen's departure marks the end of a 25-year chapter. From an idea born in an attic in Enschede in 2000, Groen built an empire through bold acquisitions (Lieferando in 2014, the merger with Just Eat in 2020). The results are colossal: 60 million consumers, €19 billion in revenue projected for 2024, and a dominant presence in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.

In his final, emotional statement, the founder utters a final "Moedig voorwaarts!", calling for courageous progress, as if to recall the fighting spirit that enabled JET to survive the industry's price war.

This restructuring potentially illustrates a classic of technological capitalism: the moment when the financial investor believes that the visionary founder is becoming a hindrance to industrial development.

In the press release, the phrase "under the ownership of Prosus" seems more suggestive than specific. Until recently, JET was a publicly traded company with a dispersed shareholding structure. Prosus has consolidated its position to act not as an investor, but as an owner-operator. This is a strong signal: JET will likely undergo a private equity- style restructuring (cost reductions, focus on the most profitable segments, potential sale of subsidiaries).

By taking control, Prosus is betting that Gandolfo's platform management expertise will outperform Groen's entrepreneurial intuition. It remains to be seen whether this streamlining will shatter the internal culture of a company built around its founder's strong personality.