Wipro exec chairman Rishad Premji gets no variable pay, takes 20% pay cut in FY24

Premji was not granted any stock options this year as well.

Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji’s commission element was withheld from his annual remuneration for the second year in a row in FY24, as the company's incremental consolidated net profit for the year was negative.

Premji is entitled to a 0.35 percent commission on incremental consolidated net profits, but since it was negative, no commission was payable, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Premji also took a pay cut of around 20 percent, trimming down his FY24 compensation package to $769,456 from last year’s $951,353. Consequently, his salary decreased to $692,641 from last year’s $861,000, according to Wipro’s 20-F filings with the US markets regulator.

The pay cut comes even as Wipro faces slowing growth and anticipates a revenue decline in the first quarter of FY25, due to a tough macroeconomic environment. The company’s revenue guidance stands between (-) 1.5 percent and 0.5 percent for the first quarter ending June 30, 2024.

Rishad Premji, 46, was not granted any stock options this year as well. The son of Wipro head Azim Premji took over as chairman of Wipro in 2019, for a period of five years. He has been reappointed for a further five years till July 30, 2029.

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.

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.

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