Narayana Murthy” reroutes. For the Telugu film’s actor, director, and producer
Indian millionaire Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy was born on August 20, 1946. Prior to retiring and assuming the title of chairman emeritus, he was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor of Infosys, one of the seven co-founders of the firm . Forbes ranked him as the 606th richest person in the world as of August 2024, with an estimated net worth of $5.1 billion . Rishi Sunak, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024, is the son of Murthy.
With a net worth of $5.3 billion, N.R. Narayana Murthy is rated 62nd on Forbes’ list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, which was released on October 9, 2024.
Shidlaghatta, Karnataka, is where Murthy was born and reared. Murthy began his career as a principal systems programmer at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and later at Patni Computer Systems in Pune, Maharashtra. He established Infosys in 1981 and served as chairman from 2002 to 2011 in addition to serving as CEO from 1981 to 2002. He became the chairman emeritus after leaving the board in 2011. Murthy was named executive chairman in June 2013 and would serve in that capacity for five years.
Fortune magazine has named Murthy one of the top 12 entrepreneurs of our time. Time magazine and CNBC have referred to him as the “father of the Indian IT sector” because of his role in Indian outsourcing. In Davos, Switzerland, he co-chaired the World Economic Forum in 2005. Murthy has received the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan honors.
Early life and education
On August 20, 1946, N. R. Narayana Murthy was born into a middle-class Brahmin family that spoke Kannada in Sidlaghatta, a city in the southwest Indian state of Karnataka. Following his schooling, he attended the National Institute of Engineering, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1967. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 1969 with a master’s degree.
Lancaster University awarded Murthy an honorary degree in 2007.
Career
Murthy began his career at IIM Ahmedabad as a research associate under a faculty member before rising to the position of principal systems programmer. There, he built and implemented a BASIC interpreter for Electronics Corporation of India Limited and worked on the country’s first time-sharing computer system. He founded a business called Softronics. After a year and a half, that business collapsed, so he went to Pune to work for Patni Computer Systems.
Murthy says that going from being a “confused leftist/communist” to a “compassionate capitalist” during the communist era in 1974 after being detained and ejected without cause at a border village close to the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border changed him. His wife, Sudha Murty, contributed Rs 10,000 as an early cash commitment when he and six other software experts launched Infosys in 1981. From 1981 until 2002, Murthy led Infosys as its CEO for 21 years. Co-founder Nandan Nilekani took over as CEO. He developed, devised, and implemented a worldwide delivery strategy for outsourcing IT services from India while he was employed at Infosys. From 2002 until 2006, he served as the board’s chairman. He then took on the role of chief mentor. He retired from the company in August 2011 and taking the title chairman emeritus.
Murthy has served as a director on the boards of DBS Bank, Unilever, ICICI, and NDTV. He is currently an independent director on the corporate board of HSBC. In addition, he is a trustee of the Infosys Prize, a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, a trustee of the Rhodes Trust, and a member of the advisory boards and councils of numerous educational and charitable organizations, including Cornell University, INSEAD, ESSEC, Ford Foundation, the UN Foundation, the Indo-British Partnership, and the Asian Institute of Management . In addition, he chairs the Public Health Foundation of India’s governing board. He is a member of British Telecommunications’ Asia Pacific advisory board.
Murthy rejoined Infosys in June 2013 as a director and executive chairman. He resigned as executive chairman in June 2014 and served as non-executive chairman until October, when he was named chairman emeritus.
Murthy is also a member of the strategic board that provides strategic, policy, and governance advice to Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, a national legal firm. He serves on the International Advisory Board (IAB) of IESE.
In 2010, Murthy has made an investment in SKS Microfinance along with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.
In 2011, Murthy has made a controversial statement on IIT Students about their abilities.
In 2016, Murthy spoke with Harvard Business Review Ascend on the subject of “How To Be a Better Manager”.
In 2017, Murthy raised concerns over alleged corporate governance lapses at Infosys, however the company went on to deny these claims.
in 2025, Muthy faced backlash for suggesting that working hours be increased to 70 hours to increase India’s productivity.
