Murthy steps down, end of an era at Infosys

NR Narayana Murthy stepped down as Infosys chairman on Friday, a day before he turned 65 on August 20. He will hand over his role to KV Kamath. The exit of Mr Murthy as the chairman of the company will mark the end of a formal association but he will continue to guide the organisation he built over the years.

Mr Murthy founded Infosys in 1981 in Pune with an initial capital of $250, most of which was borrowed from his wife Sudha Murthy. At its inception, he invited six other engineers to join the company. Mr Murthy served as the founder CEO of Infosys for 21 years, and was succeeded by co-founder Nandan Nilekani in March 2002.

At Infosys he articulated, designed and implemented the Global Delivery Model which has become the foundation for the huge success in IT services outsourcing from India. He also led the company through several key decisions including its listing on the Indian stock exchange and on the NASDAQ in the US.

Born on August 20, 1946 in Karnataka, Mr Murthy obtained his engineering degree (BE) from University of Mysore in 1967. He then attended the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Kanpur) for his master's degree (M Tech) in 1969.

Infosys' journey started with an initial capital investment of Rs 10,000 borrowed from Mr Murthy's wife Sudha. Murthy and his six colleagues started Infosys in 1981. More than 30 years later, Infosys' revenues have grown to Rs 27,000 crore.

Under his leadership, Infosys got listed in the Indian markets in 1993 and later became the first Indian company to be listed on the New York-based NASDAQ in 1999. In 2006, Infosys featured on the coveted NASDAQ 100 index. Many of Infosys' employees became millionaires (the company is credited with introduction of stock options for employees in India). Not only that, the phenomenal growth of the company made investors rich too. Infosys has the distinction of always beating its guidance.

Mr Murthy served as the company's CEO for over 20 years between 1981 and 2002, and as the executive chairperson of the Board from 2002 to 2006. He retired from his executive position at Infosys on 20 August 2006 after which he has been the non-executive chairman of the board and also the chief mentor of the company.

Mr Murthy has been the force behind the meteoric rise of Infosys. His vision and business sense made the company go from strength to strength.

He articulated, designed and implemented the Global Delivery Model, which has become the foundation for the huge success in IT services outsourcing from India. He has led key corporate governance initiatives in India. He is an IT advisor to several Asian countries.

Mr Murthy is a champion entrepreneur, a man who connected Bangalore to Boston. He now wants to focus his energies on mentoring and funding the next generation of Indian entrepreneurs.

Mr Murthy is well known for his simplicity, his spartan life style, and his down-to-earth qualities. His success over the years had no impact on him as a person.

Just like in the business echelons, he is equally popular among employees. They appreciate him for his business acumen, planning and execution skills.

From left, Infosys Technologies Ltd Chief Operating Officer S.D. Shibulal, N.R. Naryana Murthy, Member of the board K.V. Kamath and Chief executive officer and managing director S. Gopalakrishnan pose for a photograph after announcing management changes of the company at their headquarters in Bangalore on April 30, 2011.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi lights a lamp to inaugurate the Global Education Center (GEC) II at the Infosys Technologies Ltd. campus in Mysore on September 15, 2009.

"I would be called Chairman Emeritus. I will have a room which I can use if I want, I can go whenever I want but as propriety demands, I will have no say in any matter, I will not be allowed to attend any board meetings or any meetings. I can meet anybody personally," Mr Murthy had said earlier.

Here he and his wife Sudha Murthy are seen with United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, after Ms Gandhi inaugurated the Global Education Center (GEC) II at the Infosys campus in Mysore.

With a total built-up area of 1.44 million sq. ft, the Infosys GEC I and II can train 14,000 employees at any given time. The facility has 147 training rooms, 485 faculty rooms, 42 conference rooms, five assessment halls, an induction hall, a cyber café and two state-of-the-art libraries which can house over 140,000 books. With a built-up area of 440,735 sq ft., GEC I has 52 training rooms, 183 faculty rooms and a state-of-the-art library that can accommodate 60,000 books. The Global Education Center has a built-up area of 1,002,095 sq. ft. GEC II has eighty-four 100-seater, three 200-seater, six 60-seater and two 36-seater class rooms, five examination halls and 302 faculty rooms. It also has an induction hall which can seat 400 trainees, a state-of-the-art library which can accommodate 80,000 books, an MC room with a capacity of 40 seats with acoustically designed walls. The seating capacity of the cyber café is 236.

“The Education Center is a testimony of Infosys' commitment to building the competency of our employee,” Mr Murthy had said.

Mr Murthy's outstanding leadership qualities have been universally recognised and he serves on the boards of some of the world's biggest companies and organisations.

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian award after the Bharat Ratna, in 2008.

Besides, he has also been awarded the Légion d'honneur by the government of France, and the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the British government.

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, center, stands with Mr Murthy, and his wife Sudha Murthy at Infosys Technologies sprawling corporate campus in Mysore on April 8, 2007. The Infosys campus has more than 80 buildings, 2,350 hostel rooms, a 500,000-square-foot education complex and a movie complex built inside a geodesic dome.

Mr Murthy, center, poses for a photograph with his son Rohan Murthy, right, and daughter-in-law Lakshmi Venu at the end of company's 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Bangalore, on June 11, 2011.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, shakes hands with Mr Murthy after receiving a memento at the inauguration of Infosys' Global Education Centre at Mysore on February 12, 2005.

Lakshmi Venu, the only daughter of TVS Motor CMD Venu Srinivasan, tied the knot with Rohan Murthy, the only son of Infosys Technologies mentor N R Narayana Murthy , in Chennai on June 5.

The wedding, which brought together two prominent business families, was attended by top politicians such as BJP leader LK Advani and Central ministers P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Anand Sharma and GK Vasan, as well as corporate bigwigs such as Godrej Chairman Adi Godrej, former Infosys chief Nandan Nilekani and members of the family that runs Apollo Hospitals.