Full text: Didn't intend to cause anguish to Narayana Murthy, says Infosys Board

Rank 7 | NR Narayana Murthy & family | Company: Infosys | Net Wealth: Rs 16,400 crore | Co-founder of Infosys, NR Narayana Murthy and his family only added 1 percent to their overall wealth this year, becoming one of the ten richest tech billionaires in India.

The Board of Directors of Infosys Limited met today at a meeting chaired by its newly elected Chairman Mr. Nandan Nilekani. Reporting on the decisions taken at the meeting Mr. Nilekani stated, “I am extremely excited about the future of Infosys. The Board is focused on bringing complete stability to the Company. It has also tasked its Committee of Directors to work with the CEO and management to review and refresh the Company’s strategy by October.”

In recent days there has been considerable discussion of the relationship between the Board of Directors of Infosys Limited and Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy who established the culture and ethos of Infosys, especially its culture of adhering to high corporate governance standards. The Board believes it to be unfortunate that various differences of opinion have arisen between Mr. Murthy and the Board in the recent past. The Board wishes to express that it was not its intention to cause Mr. Murthy or any other affected person any personal distress or anguish while stating its point of view.

The Company has previously authorized investigations into allegations made by anonymous persons regarding the conduct of prior management, and each of these investigations concluded that there was no wrongdoing. While the Board and the Company are focused on the future, consistent with the Company’s commitment to good governance, the new Chairman will get a full briefing on these investigations and the appropriate course of action will be decided.

As the Board has stated on numerous occasions, it takes the Company’s reputation for high corporate governance standards with the utmost seriousness. Hence, it has, as previously disclosed, decided that it will engage in further broad-based shareholder consultations to determine what further, if any, the Company can take to ensure that it continues to adhere to high governance standards.

The Board has also approved the appointment of the executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to work with its Nominations and Remunerations Committee to review and identify the right candidate to be the Company’s next CEO and MD. Additionally, the Nominations and Remunerations Committee will deliberate on the long term governance structure of the Board and present its recommendations at the meeting of the Board in October.

The Board announced that Mr D N Prahlad is appointed as the Chairman of Edgeverve Limited with immediate effect.

Finally, the Board would like to state that it is firmly focused on ensuring that the affairs of the Company and the interests of all its stakeholders – its customers, employees, shareholders, officers and directors – are harmoniously aligned and enhanced.