Mr Murthy, the current chairman, will be chairman emeritus post his retirement on Aug 20, 2011, when he completes 65 years. The board has also appointed current chief operating officer (COO) SD Shibulal as the new CEO and MD effective 21 August, 2011. Mr Shibulal will succeed S Gopalakrishnan, the current CEO and MD, who has been elevated to the post of co-chairman.
Mr Murthy said there was lots of discussions in the nominations committee but there was unanimous opinion that we need to strengthen both aspects...customer employee connect and our adherence to world class governance.
“I am pleased with all three appointments… I have known Vaman or KV Kamath very well...I have known him for 40 years," Mr Murthy said. Mr Kamath is a well-known figure among India Inc. He was the CEO and MD of India's largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank, for 13 years. Currently he serves as the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of ICICI Bank Limited.
On the newly appointed CEO SD Shibulal, Mr Murthy said, "Shibulal had a wonderful career at Infosys...I have known him for 32 years...before we founded Infosys...He has exceeded the expectations of the board as COO." Shibulal is one of the co-founders of Infosys Technologies Limited. Shibu, as he is fondly called, is known for his love for gadgets. According to 2011 Forbes ranking, Shibu is India's 48th richest billionaire with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
Infosys' chief executive officer and managing director S Gopalakrishnan, chief operating officer S.D. Shibulal and senior VP and chief financial officer V Balakrishnan were among the company officials who were present in the board meet. S. Gopalakrishnan (Kris to his colleagues) is one of the founders of Infosys Technologies Limited. In January 2011, Kris was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian honor, by the Government of India.
TV Mohandas Pai, who resigned from the board recently, was also present in the meeting.
Infosys would also be appointing three new directors before the annual general meeting in June. The major board recast comes at a time when Infosys is facing stiff competitive environment and tough business conditions. The names of Kamath, Gopalakrishnan and Shibulal were recommended by the three-member Nominations Committee, chaired by Jeffrey S Lehman.
"These three leaders bring together an extraordinary range of talents and experiences with a united commitment to drive the company... We could not be in better hands," Lehman said.
A well-known personality in the corporate circles, Kamath was the key driving force in the success of ICICI Bank. "I feel greatly honoured to have been asked to be the Chairman of Infosys by the board of directors and accept this responsibility with a deep sense of humility," Kamath said.
One of the co-founders, Kris Gopalakrishnan has been Infosys CEO since June 2007. Shibulal, another co-founder, is currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO). "We will ensure that this leadership transition is smooth... We are also making other organisational changes to strengthen our market position and ability to serve our clients better," Shibulal said.
Headquartered in Bangalore, Infosys has 64 offices and 63 development centres across the US, the UK, China, Australia and Japan, among other countries. The company and its subsidiaries had a workforce of 1,30,820 employees as of March 31, 2011.
now Infosys has one more.....STAR
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