N. R. Narayana Murthy

Narayana Murthy was born on 20 August 1946 in Shidlaghatta, Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka[16] into a middle-class Brahmin family.[17] After completing his school education, he went to the National Institute of Engineering and graduated in 1967 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1969 he received his master's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.[18][19]

Murthy first served as a Research Associate under a faculty at IIM Ahmedabad and then later served as the chief systems programmer.[20] There he worked on India's first time-sharing computer system[19] and designed and implemented a BASIC interpreter for Electronics Corporation of India Limited.[21] He started a company named Softronics. When that company failed after about a year and a half, he joined Patni Computer Systems in Pune.[22]

Murthy and his six software professionals founded Infosys in 1981[23][24] with an initial capital investment of Rs 10,000, which was provided by his wife Sudha Murthy.[25] Murthy served as the CEO of Infosys for 21 years from 1981 to 2002[23] and was succeeded by co-founder Nandan Nilekani.[25] At Infosys he articulated, designed and implemented the Global Delivery Model for IT services outsourcing from India.[26] He was the chairman of the board from 2002 to 2006, after which he also became the Chief Mentor.[25][27] In August 2011, he retired from the company, taking the title chairman Emeritus.[8][9]

N R Narayana Murthy in Ahmedabad in 2015

Murthy serves as an independent director on the corporate board of HSBC and has served as a director on the boards of DBS Bank, Unilever, ICICI and NDTV.[3][28] He also serves as a member of the advisory boards and councils of several educational and philanthropic institutions,[3][28] including Cornell University, INSEAD, ESSEC, Ford Foundation, the UN Foundation, the Indo-British Partnership, Asian Institute of Management, a trustee of the Infosys Prize, a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and as a trustee of the Rhodes Trust.[29] He is also the Chairman of the Governing board of Public Health Foundation of India.[30] He serves on the Asia Pacific Advisory Board of British Telecommunications.[28][31] In 2005 he co-chaired the World Economic Forum in Davos.[32]

On 1st June 2013, Murthy returned to Infosys as the Executive chairman and Additional Director. On 12th June 2014 it was announced that Murthy would step down as the Executive chairman effectively on 14th June. He would continue as the Non-Executive chairman until 10th October. On 11th October, Murthy was to be designated as the chairman Emeritus.[33]

Murthy also serves on the strategic board which advises the national law firm, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, on strategic, policy and governance issues.[34] He is also a member of IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB).[35]

In 2016, Murthy spoke with Harvard Business Review Ascend[36] on the subject of "How To Be a Better Manager", where he shared tips that he has learned from his own life.[37]

In 2017, Murthy raised concerns over alleged corporate governance lapses at Infosys, however the company went on to deny these claims.[38]

His wife, Sudha Murthy, is a social worker and author, and does philanthropic work through the Infosys Foundation.[39]

Murthy has two children, a son Rohan Murty and a daughter Akshata Murthy.[40] In June 2013, Rohan joined Infosys as an executive assistant to his father.[41] He left Infosys in June 2014.[33] In 2009, Akshata married Rishi Sunak; the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer and Conservative MP for Richmond, Yorkshire.[42]

• A Better India: A Better World, Penguin Books, 2009 ISBN 9780143068570
• A Clear Blue Sky: Stories and Poems on Conflict and Hope, Puffin Books India, 2017 ISBN 9780143331414
• The Wit and Wisdom of Narayana Murthy, Hay House, 2016 ISBN 9789385827020

• N, Chokkan (2007). Narayana Murthy : I.T. guru. Chennai: Oxygen Books.
• Mitra, Meera (2007). It's only business! : India's corporate social responsiveness in a globalized world; with a foreword by N.R. Narayana Murthy. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to N. R. Narayana Murthy.

• Profile at Infosys