N. R. Narayana Murthy
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Template:Indian nameNagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy (born 20 August 1946) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of Infosys,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> of the company before retiring and becoming chairman emeritus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="auto1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> As of January 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$5.0 billion, according to Forbes.<ref name="Forbes profile">Template:Cite news</ref>
Murthy was born and raised in Shidlaghatta, Karnataka. He first worked at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, as chief systems programmer, and Patni Computer Systems in Pune, Maharashtra. He founded Infosys in 1981 and was the CEO from 1981 to 2002, as well as the chairman from 2002 to 2011. In 2011, he stepped down from the board and became the chairman emeritus. In June 2013, Murthy was appointed as the executive chairman for a period of five years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Murthy has been listed among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time by Fortune magazine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has been described as the "father of the Indian IT sector" by Time magazine and CNBC for his contribution to outsourcing in India.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2005, he co-chaired the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Murthy has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Padma Shri awards.<ref name="karnataka" />
Murthy is the father-in-law of Rishi Sunak, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024.
Early life and education
N. R. Narayana Murthy was born on 20 August 1946 in Sidlaghatta, a city in India's south-western state of Karnataka<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> into a Kannada speaking middle-class Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After completing his school education, he went to the National Institute of Engineering and graduated in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. In 1969 he received his master's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="YouTube">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2007, Murthy received an honorary degree from Lancaster University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
Murthy first worked as a research associate under a faculty at IIM Ahmedabad and then later as the chief systems programmer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There he worked on India's first time-sharing computer system<ref name="YouTube" /> and designed and implemented a BASIC interpreter for Electronics Corporation of India Limited.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He started a company named Softronics. When that company failed after about a year and a half, he joined Patni Computer Systems in Pune.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Murthy mentions that being arrested and expelled for no good reason during the communist era 1974 in a border town near the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border, turned him into a "compassionate capitalist" from a "confused leftist/communist". In 1981 he, with six software professionals, founded Infosys<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="studyrays">in Pune, Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with an initial capital investment of Rs 10,000, which was provided by his wife Sudha Murty.<ref name=yentha>Template:Cite web</ref> Murthy was the CEO of Infosys for 21 years from 1981 to 2002<ref name="studyrays" /> and was succeeded by co-founder Nandan Nilekani.<ref name=yentha /> At Infosys he articulated, designed and implemented a global delivery model for IT services outsourcing from India.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the chairman of the board from 2002 to 2006, after which he also became the chief mentor.<ref name=yentha /><ref>Non-Executive Chairman – MSN Report Template:Webarchive.</ref> In August 2011, he retired from the company, taking the title chairman emeritus.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/>
Murthy is an independent director on the corporate board of HSBC and has been a director on the boards of DBS Bank, Unilever, ICICI and NDTV.<ref name="Forbes profile"/><ref name=NM-B-01>Bloomberg Businessweek profile – N. R. Narayana Murthy CBE</ref> He is also a member of the advisory boards and councils of several educational and philanthropic institutions,<ref name="Forbes profile"/><ref name=NM-B-01/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is also the Chairman of the Governing board of Public Health Foundation of India.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is on the Asia Pacific advisory board of British Telecommunications.<ref name=NM-B-01/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In June 2013, Murthy returned to Infosys as executive chairman and a director.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2014, he stood down as executive chairman, was non-executive chairman until October, when he became chairman emeritus.<ref name="bp">Template:Cite web</ref>
Murthy is also on the strategic board which advises the national law firm, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, on strategic, policy and governance issues.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is a member of IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB).<ref>Members of IESE's International Advisory Board Template:Webarchive, iese.edu</ref>
In 2010, Murthy has made an investment in SKS Microfinance along with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. <ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2016, Murthy participated in FXC as a Board Member.<ref name=":0" />
In 2017, Murthy raised concerns over alleged corporate governance lapses at Infosys, however the company went on to deny these claims.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In late 2023, a comment by Murthy suggesting that young people should work 70 hours a week to boost national productivity sparked a widespread public debate in India.<ref name="NDTVClarification">Template:Cite web</ref> A year later, in November 2024, he addressed the controversy, clarifying that the remark was a matter for "personal introspection" and not a mandate. He stated that while he worked more than 70 hours a week for over 40 years, it was a personal choice, adding, "Nobody can say you should do it."<ref name="NDTVClarification" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Murthy's wife Sudha is an educator, author, and philanthropist who has served as the chairperson of the non-profit Infosys Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They have two children together: a son, Rohan, and a daughter, Akshata.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From June 2013 to June 2014, Rohan Murthy joined Infosys as an executive assistant to his father.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="bp"/> He left Infosys to create his own company called Soroco in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, Akshata married British-Indian Conservative politician Rishi Sunak, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Awards and honours
Bibliography
References
Further reading
External links
Template:Rishi SunakTemplate:Padma Vibhushan Awards Template:Infosys Template:Authority control
- 1946 births
- Living people
- Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry
- Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in trade & industry
- Businesspeople in the software industry
- Kannada people
- Indian billionaires
- Businesspeople from Mysore
- IIT Kanpur alumni
- Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study
- Officers of the Legion of Honour
- Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Businesspeople from Bengaluru
- Infosys people
- Indian software engineers
- 20th-century Indian engineers
- 20th-century Indian businesspeople
- HSBC people
- DBS Bank people
- Unilever people
- ICICI Bank
- NDTV Group
- BT Group people
- Cornell University staff
- Academic staff of INSEAD
- Indian technology company founders
- United Nations Foundation
- Winners of the Nikkei Asia Prize
- Knights of the Legion of Honour
- Murthy family
- Controversies in India