Narayana Murthy to step down as executive chairman of Infosys

Mumbai: Infosys founder and mentor N R Narayana Murthy is stepping down as its executive chairman but, by all indications, the man who guided Infosys, one of the most admired IT companies in the world today, would continue to be at the helm.

The board of directors had appointed Murthy, who turns 60 on August 20, as additional director of the company and should retire as per the company's service rules. And, on Sunday, when he steps down as chairman of the company he helped start 25 years ago, he will be the rarest among Indian business leaders - one who gives up all.

Infosys Technologies Ltd is the country's first global company with more than 90 per cent of its revenues coming from overseas; perhaps the first Indian company to adopt a code of corporate transparency; the first to offer stock options to employees; and the first to list shares in the Nasdaq stock market in 1999.

More than anything, Murthy who was among BusinessWeek's `The Stars of Asia' and one of the 10 global technology leaders that Time magazine named in 2004, has helped raise confidence level among India's emerging entrepreneurs.

Murthy also showed that professionals could run a company as well, if not better, than the family-run firms that thrive largely on government protection.