At $20 million, ex-Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte becomes highest paid CEO in Indian IT for FY24

Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji's commission was held back as the company posted a loss for the fiscal year.

Former Wipro chief executive officer and managing director Thierry Delaporte earned over $20 million (approximately Rs 166 crore) in FY24, which made him the highest-paid CEO in the IT industry for the second year in a row.

Delaporte resigned on April 6, and the company appointed a veteran for 32 years, Srinivas Pallia, in his place.

According to Wipro’s 20-F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Delaporte earned over $3.9 million as salary and allowance, over $5 million as commission/variable pay, almost $7 million classified as others, and over $4 million as long-term compensation.

The company said it incurred severance-related costs of Rs 92.1 crore towards the outgoing CEO for FY24.

Delaporte’s successor Pallia will receive an annual remuneration package of approximately Rs 50 crore, which is the second-highest among CEOs in the Indian information technology industry for FY25.

The CEO’s pay increased for the second straight year, at a time when the company's revenue has been declining and the disparity between the pay of CEOs and fresh graduates is widening.

On the other hand, Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji is entitled to a commission of 0.35 percent on incremental consolidated net profit, which was held back as the company posted a loss for the fiscal year.

For the full year of FY24, Wipro's revenue declined YoY to Rs 89,760 crore from Rs 90,486 crore.

For financial year 2023-24, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh received Rs 56 crore in the annual remuneration package. The next-best paid CEO of an IT company is C Vijayakumar of HCLTech, earning Rs 28.4 crore in FY22-FY23. After Vijayakumar, LTIMindtree pays the highest in the industry. Its CEO Debashis Chatterjee, who was appointed at the helm in November 2022 after the merger of L&T and Mindtree, drew Rs 17.5 crore in salary in FY22-23.

Next in line is Tech Mahindra’s Mohit Joshi, who will receive an annual fixed compensation of Rs 6.5 crore and an equal amount in annual variable pay. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO and MD K Krithivasan drew Rs 25.36 crore in annual compensation in FY24, which is the lowest amongst the large IT companies.

Delaporte’s compensation for the year ended March 31, 2024 includes cost of accelerated vesting of 989,130 unvested stock options and cash compensation in the amount of $4.33 million.

This is in “recognition of Delaporte’s contributions in driving significant transformation” and also to enable a smooth transition and adherence to post-engagement obligations such as confidentiality, non-solicitation, non-disparagement, and other obligations, the company said in the filing.

Also read: Average Indian CEO pay reaches around Rs 14 crore per year, up 40% from pre-pandemic level