Narayana Murthy retires from Infosys

Bringing his illustrious corporate career to an end, IT major Infosys Chairman N R Narayana Murthy retired on Sunday from the service of the company, which he had launched as a small firm in the city in 1981 and took it to enviable heights in the last two and a half decades.

Murthy turned 60 on Sunday and as per the company's corporate governance policy, he relinquished his executive post. However, he would continue as its non-executive Chairman from Monday.

Life will be the same for Murthy even after retirement as he will continue to be a busy bee. "I will continue to do what I have been doing. I am already on the board of some companies. I have joined some more. I travel abroad 20 to 22 days a month, I will continue to do that," he told UNI in an interview.

Murthy, considered the czar of Indian software industry, launched Infosys with the help of a handful of friends with each of them contributing a sum of Rs 10,000. From its humble beginning, the company, under the able hands of Murthy, grew to be the second biggest software exporter in India with a present market capitalistation of $21 billion. The annual income had grown to $2.15 billion with 98 per cent of its income coming from exports.

Infosys will now be headed by its senior most founding member Nandan Nilekani, who was the CEO and MD. No decision had been taken on appointment of the new Chairman, company sources said.

The IT major, which had started with staff strength of just over a dozen people, now has more than 58,000 people on its rolls in nearly 25 offices both in India and abroad.