Narayana Murthy back as Infosys executive chairman

Infosys Ltd. announced on Saturday that its board has appointed founder N.R. Narayana Murthy as Chairman. The decision, taken at a meeting of the board is with immediate effect. The company’s annual general meeting (AGM), scheduled for June 15 is expected to ratify the decision.

The reconstituted board would also include Mr. Murthy’s son, Rohan Murthy, who would function as “executive assistant” to Mr. Murthy. The company said Mr. Rohan is a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and has held fellowships at MIT, Caltech, and Microsoft Research.

Following the AGM, the board proposes to schedule an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to approve the decision to appoint Mr. Murthy as “Executive Chairman and Whole-time Director for a period of five years commencing on June 1, 2013,” the company said in a statement.

The current chairman K.V. Kamath would step down from his position as Chairman of the Board and take up the position of Lead Independent Director from June 1, 2013, the company said.

Mr. Kamath said the board’s decision is aimed at “strengthening of the executive leadership during this challenging time.”

Mr. Murthy’s “entrepreneurial and leadership record and the long experience he has had as a technology pioneer makes him eminently qualified to lead the company and provide strategic direction at this point in time,” he added.

“This calling was sudden, unexpected, and most unusual,” Mr. Murthy said. “Infosys,” he said, “is my middle child.” He said he would “put aside” his “plans-in-progress” and accept the responsibility. “I intend to do my best to add value to the company in this challenging situation," he added.

S. Gopalakrishnan has been designated as Executive Vice-Chairman and would be responsible for “client relationship and broader industry issues,” while S.D. Shibulal would continue as Managing Director and CEO. Like Mr. Murthy, his son, Mr. Gopalakrishnan and Mr. Shibulal would all draw annual compensation of one rupee, the company said. (PTI)