Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy says he now regrets the decision to keep his family out of the company. Murthy, who co-founded Infosys in 1981 with a loan of Rs 10,000 from his wife Sudha Murty, never allowed her to join the firm even though he believed her to be more qualified than the other co-founders.
“I had this feeling that good corporate governance means not bringing the family into it,” he said when asked by CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan why he didn’t let his wife, who gave him seed money, join Infosys.
“Because in those days, it was just family-owned, all kinds of kids came in and ran the company. All the laws were being broken,” he said in the CNBC-TV18 interview.
The veteran entrepreneur, however, said that a few years ago, he had a long discussion with a couple of philosophy professors at two well-known universities, who told him that he was ‘wrong’ to do so.
“I think what I was doing those days was wrong. I was wrongly idealistic. And in some way, I was influenced a lot by the environment of those days,” Murthy, 77, said in the interview.
When asked if his son Rohan Murty, a Harvard scholar, tomorrow says he wants to join Infosys, Murthy said: “He is more stricter than I am. He will never say this.”
Murthy served as the CEO of Infosys, the country’s second largest technology company for 21 years from 1981 to 2002. He was the Chairman of the Board from 2002 to 2006. In August 2011, Murthy retired from the firm, assuming the title. Chairman Emeritus. However, in June 2013, Murthy was appointed as the Executive Chairman of the Board. It was during this time that Murthy’s son Rohan served as his executive assistant.
