N.R. Narayana Murthy is back in the executive leadership of Infosys barely 21 months after he retired on August 20th, 2011, on turning 65. The beleaguered company, once the darling of the industry and media, has been battling low employee morale and negative shareholder sentiment as a result of a poor financial performances compared to peers TCS, Cognizant and HCL over the last few quarters.
The move to bring NRN back is seen as Infy’s last-ditch effort to return to its previous growth trajectory. Mr Murthy’s son, Dr Rohan Murthy, will be his executive assistant.
In a meeting on Saturday morning, the company’s board unanimously appointed NRN executive chairman of the board and additional director with effect from June 1, 2013, for the next five years. The announcement comes two weeks before the company’s AGM on June 15.
Mr Murthy said, “Infosys has been the story of my adult life where I have worked with the same passion and enthusiasm till 5.30 pm on the day I retired as I did on the first day in 1981. Infosys is my middle child. Akshata, my daughter was born in 1980, Infosys in 1981 and Rohan my son in 1983. Therefore, after discussing it with my family, I have put aside my plans-in-progress and accepted this responsibility.”