N R Narayana Murthy to spend time with grandchildren, read books

BANGALORE: Grandchildren and books will take up most of NR Narayana Murthy's time after he retires for the second time from the company he co-founded with six friends over three decades ago.

Murthy will take over as Chairman Emeritus from October 11 as part of a management rejig announced today by Infosys, which named former SAP board member Vishal Sikka as its new chief executive officer and managing director.

Asked what he planned to do after retirement, Murthy said: "At this time, I want to spend time with my granddaughters, my family...I would also be in a position to read a few books."

Murthy, who first retired in 2011, was called back in June last year to head the firm and put it back on a high-growth trajectory when peers TCS and HCL Tech were outperforming Infosys.

Upon his return, he set up the Executive Chairman's office and inducted his son, Rohan, as Executive Assistant.

The office will now be dissolved and Murthy junior will exit the Bangalore-based company.

Infosys was set up in 1981 by Murthy and his friends including S Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and SD Shibulal with a few hundred dollars. Since then, the company has grown to become an over $ 8 billion entity and till a few quarters ago, was considered the IT bellwether in India.

Known to be a humble person, Murthy remained at the helm of Infosys for two decades after its inception.

Murthy, often referred to as the father of India's booming IT sector, served as Infosys Executive Chairman from 2002-2006.

Awarded with the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian honour, Murthy did his masters programme in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur.

Apart from juggling responsibilities at Infosys and his venture capital initiative Catamaran Investment, Murthy served on the boards of entities including HSBC, Ford Foundation, Cornell University and Wharton School.