How Dev Pragad Became Harvard's Reputation Nightmare

A lawsuit and an April letter anonymously received by the TechTimes newsroom have cast a new light on a remarkable arrangement: How Dev Pragad, a CEO embroiled in years of litigation over the contested ownership of Newsweek landed a seat on the Board of Directors of Harvard Business Publishing and how two prominent Harvard insiders appear to have helped open the door.

At the center of the storm is Dev Pragad, the man who claims ownership of Newsweek, who now lists a prestigious Harvard Business Publishing board seat as a key credential. In a February 2026 CEO Today Magazine profile, Pragad prominently cites this board service as part of a carefully curated public image. Another paid media campaign in a publication named Free Press Journal confirms the finding.

But behind the glossy headlines lies a far messier reality: a multi-year legal battle in which Pragad was accused of orchestrating a "calculated and systematic deception" involving a handshake deal never honored, an alleged corporate theft, and the deliberate use of Harvard's name for reputation laundering.

On April 24, 2026, IBT Media Inc. sent a formal letter to NW Media Holdings Corp., signed by IBT President Etienne Uzac and addressed to Pragad, declaring that the 2018 Membership Interest Purchase Agreement intended to transfer Newsweek out of IBT was "never consummated and is irrevocably null."

"One or more required conditions were never satisfied, meaning the transaction never took effect," the letter stated. The missing condition? NW Media never paid the $5,000 purchase price required at closing. IBT's CEO testified under oath that the payment was never made, and NW Media never claimed to have paid it.

According to the letter, Newsweek LLC also failed to make 20 quarterly payments totaling $1.5 million, a fact confirmed under oath by NW Media's Chief Financial Officer in a January 2026 court hearing.

The 2018 transaction was tactfully announced as a clean separation. But according to a separate lawsuit, it was designed as a "temporary arrangement to keep the brand from bad press" while IBT Media's then principal faced indictment. The understanding, the lawsuit alleged, was that Pragad would return the company once scrutiny subsided. He never did.

It is to be noted that, prior to the temporary arrangement, Pragad was only a senior employee of IBT Media whom the founding team and investors that owned the brand trusted.
In that same lawsuit, IBT Media noted Pragad's "calculated and systematic deception" against the original owners of IBT Media, detailing how Pragad began collecting "false claims and awards" while crowing about his achievements online, paid interviews, and "even a case study at Harvard Business School."

That Harvard case study, featuring Newsweek's "remarkable turnaround," is co-authored by Professor Suraj Srinivasan, the same individual who also serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of Newsweek and simultaneously as Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of Harvard Business Publishing.

And Srinivasan is not alone. David Wan, the former nineteen-year CEO of Harvard Business Publishing who now serves on the HBP Board of Directors and as an advisor to the corporation, is also a member of Newsweek's Advisory Board.

Newsweek's own promotional pages explicitly state that Wan is "a member of the Board of Directors at Harvard Business Publishing" yet neither Wan nor Srinivasan appears to have disclosed their dual roles or recused themselves from matters involving Pragad or Newsweek.
The revolving door between the two advisory bodies and the HBP board itself raises a simple but uncomfortable question: How did two Harvard insiders, serving on the Newsweek CEO's advisory board, both fail to flag his legal baggage before he was seated on Harvard Business Publishing's Board? Also it's important to note that Pragad was also a student of the Harvard OPM (Owner, President, Management) program before the two insiders joined the Newsweek board.

Equally concerning are the optics of quid pro quo. Since joining Newsweek's Advisory Board, Professor Srinivasan has been featured in multiple Newsweek articles and webinars, introduced as a "member of the Newsweek Advisory Board." His name and Harvard affiliation are used repeatedly to lend weight to Newsweek's content. Wan, meanwhile, has been publicly thanked by Pragad and hosted at Newsweek's global headquarters at One World Trade Center for "engaging conversations" with Newsweek's leadership team.

Srinivasan and Wan also appear to have since been removed from the Newsweek website, with pages identifying them as members of the "Advisory Board" reportedly deleted. The removals came after letters were sent to Harvard and Harvard Business Publishing leadership raising concerns that Dev Pragad may have been appointed to the Harvard Business Publishing board without adequate vetting despite extensive public litigation and allegations surrounding his conduct. Those letters were later anonymously provided to Tech Times.

The sudden disappearance of the advisory board pages has only intensified scrutiny. More observers are now asking why the advisory board references were removed from Newsweek's website, whether the deletions were connected to the letters sent to Harvard leadership, and what role Srinivasan and Wan may have played in the circumstances surrounding Pragad's appointment to Harvard Business Publishing's board.

These are men who built their reputations through decades of hard work and perseverance; Pragad, by contrast, stands accused of building his reputation on fraud, cheating, deception, and gaslighting. And he is now wrapping himself in their reputations, all while insisting—in the face of sworn testimony to the contrary—that he legitimately owns Newsweek.

"IBT's patience should not be mistaken for acquiescence," the April 24 letter warns. "The passage of time does not cure NW Media's non-performance."

The letter puts Pragad again on notice that IBT is asserting its full rights as the owner of the Newsweek brand and assets.

Questions remain about whether Harvard Business Publishing's reputation has already been affected by the association. By allowing a man accused of "systematic deception" to join its board while decorated affiliates served on Pragad's advisory board, the institution may have unwittingly lent its most valuable asset—a sterling reputation for governance and integrity—to a CEO fighting to keep a company he may never have lawfully owned.

Harvard Business Publishing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether due diligence was performed on Pragad prior to his board appointment, nor on why Professor Srinivasan and Mr. Wan remained involved without feeling it morally and ethically necessary to disclose their own conflicts. The media relations department of HBS was also contacted.

Whether Harvard Business Publishing acted in good faith or not, its name is now part of a story it did not write — and may not be able to edit. Harvard may very well be a private institution, but morally and ethically there is no escaping this scandal.