System Failure At Infosys

The inside account of a corporate battle that is tearing apart india’s storied company and why it matters to the it sector at large.

- Venkatesha Babu

 On  Sunday, August 20, Nagavara Ramrao Narayana Murthy turned 71. It should have been a joyous occasion, but the mood at the small informal gathering of friends and ex-colleagues who had come to wish him at his Bengaluru home was sombre.

Just two days earlier, Vishal Sikka, CEO and MD at Infosys Ltd hand picked by Murthy in 2014, had resigned, sending shockwaves through Infosys and the entire IT industry. The company’s shares plunged nearly 10 per cent on the bourses on Friday, August 18, wiping out over Rs 22,000 crore of shareholder wealth, while the Sensex fell over 400 points. Sikka had complained of “distractions” from his work at the company, and the “false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks” against him. But while he did not name Murthy, the Infosys board attacked the company’s cofounder, publicly upbraiding Murthy, accusing him of being a bully and forcing Sikka’s resignation, and in the process damaging the company and misrepresenting its commitment to corporate governance.

So, on his birthday, instead of reflecting on a lifetime of achievement, Murthy grew misty-eyed and bemoaned “being misunderstood, back-stabbed and betrayed, for standing up for principles”, according to a former colleague who did not want to be identified.