N R Narayana Murthy
Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus, Infosys
B.E. Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Engineering, Mysore (1967); master's degree, IIT Kanpur (1969)
Photo: ps482207, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
About
Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy is the founder of Infosys and its chairman emeritus. Born on 20 August 1946 in Karnataka, he graduated in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, in 1967 and earned a master's degree from IIT Kanpur in 1969. He worked at IIM Ahmedabad as chief systems programmer, where he worked on an early time-sharing computer system, ran a short-lived company called Softronics, and then joined Patni Computer Systems in Pune. In 1981 he and six colleagues founded Infosys with ₹10,000 of capital lent by his wife, Sudha Murty. He was CEO for 21 years, until 2002, when he handed over to co-founder Nandan Nilekani, and is credited with designing the global delivery model that underpinned India's IT outsourcing industry. He served as chairman until 2011, when he retired as chairman emeritus, returned as executive chairman from 2013 to 2014, and then resumed the emeritus title. He has sat on the boards of HSBC, DBS Bank, Unilever and ICICI, co-chaired the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005 and has received the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.
Timeline: 1967, B.E. from NIE Mysore; 1969, master's degree from IIT Kanpur; 1981, Infosys incorporated in Pune; 1983, moves to Bangalore; 1993, IPO; 1999, first Indian company listed on Nasdaq; 2002, steps down as CEO and becomes chairman; 2006, retires from executive service on turning 60 and takes the title chief mentor; August 2011, chairman emeritus; June 2013 to 2014, executive chairman; October 2014, chairman emeritus again.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
