“Being accused of violating our own high standard of business recently made me lose several nights of sleep,” said outgoing Infosys chairman NR Narayan Murthy in an emotional letter to shareholders. The company published its annual report late evening on Tuesday.
“Deliberating all alone on the resignation offer of a co-founder is not something I would wish upon even my enemy,” he adds.
As founders of the company make way for the new generation, the transition of power has created acrimony. Mohandas Pai, ex-Director for Human Resources, had criticised the strategy to allow co-founders to have a shot at being Infosys CEO. Murthy does not deliberate on the specific issue in the annual report but has said in an interview to theEconomic Times that if given a choice between two deserving candidates, seniority will take precedence.
A Rs 9,500-investment in 1993 has become a staggering Rs 4.15 crore today. Screen grab from the annual Infosys report
Murthy complains in his note about the organisation turning bureaucratic occasionally and the inability of some of the leaders to take quick and firm decisions.
The report is worth a read if you want to know about the Infosys story from its founders. Besides Murthy, Mohandas Pai and K Dinesh, also speak about their experiences with the company. Dinesh, another co-founder resigned along with Pai.
The company now has a new chairman in K V Kamath and an executive co-chairman in Kris Gopalakrishnan. SD Shibulal is the new CEO.
The company has outlined its strategy to grow the customer base and focus on becoming a ‘business partner’ to its clients. Hence, the company has changed its name to ‘Infosys Ltd’ from ‘Infosys Technologies’. With $3.5-billion cash and cash equivalent, the company could look for strategic acquisitions, the report says.
Here are some interesting bits on the Infosys journey:
• Infosys has $3.5-billion cash and cash equivalent and 4,50,000 investors today.
• Infosys shares listed on BSE at Rs 145 in February 1993. A Rs 9,500-investment in 1993 has become a staggering Rs 4.15 crore today if you include bonuses, share splits and dividends over the years. A return of 4,64,422% in 18 years or 59% compounded annual growth rate.
• The company first offered stock options to 18,000 employees in 1993-94 creating hundreds of dollar millionaires and thousands of rupee millionaires and according to Narayana Murthy, the value of ESOPS is Rs 50,000 crore.
• In 1998, the company went for a US NASDAQ listing to raise $70 million through American depository receipts. Investment bankers gathered a book of $3.5 billion which signaled a demand for Infosys shares in US.
• Infosys shares listed on BSE at Rs 145 in February 1993. A Rs 9,500-investment in 1993 has become a staggering Rs 4.15 crore today if you include bonuses, share splits and dividends over the years. A return of 4,64,422% in 18 years or 59% compounded annual growth rate.
• The company first offered stock options to 18,000 employees in 1993-94 creating hundreds of dollar millionaires and thousands of rupee millionaires and according to Narayana Murthy, the value of ESOPS is Rs 50,000 crore.
• In 1998, the company went for a US NASDAQ listing to raise $70 million through American depository receipts. Investment bankers gathered a book of $3.5 billion which signaled a demand for Infosys shares in US.
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