Infosys CFO Ranganath quits
Departure an irreparable loss for the firm, says co-founder Narayana Murthy
Chief Financial Officer of Infosys M D Ranganath, who served the country’s second-largest software services company for nearly two decades, has stepped down.
In a release on Saturday, Infosys said the board of directors has accepted his resignation. The company will immediately start searching for a CFO, it added. The company said Ranganath, also known as Ranga, would continue in his current position till November 16, which would ensure smooth transition of power.
"Over the past 18 years, Ranga has played a pivotal role in the growth and success of Infosys," said Chairman Nandan Nilekani. "With Ranga as CFO, the company has delivered a strong and resilient financial performance on multiple fronts in the past three years, implemented an efficient capital allocation policy and earned the respect of stakeholders through enhanced value creation," he added.
This is the second CFO-level exit at Infosys within a span of three years. In October 2015, the company's the then CFO Rajiv Bansal had quit owing to differences with the management over acquisition of Panaya. Subsequently, he was paid a hefty severance package of ~174 million by the previous board of Infosys under the chairmanship of R Seshasayee. This unprecedented level of severance payout of close to 30 months of salary sparked a huge controversy. Founders such as N R Narayana Murthy raised questions on the corporate governance issue.
This led to the halting of the assured payout after an initial payment of ~50 million.
Currently, the case is under arbitration over the remaining amount. Ranganath was one of the key executives who played a vital role in the period of turbulence in 2013 that forced its founder N R Narayana Murthy to return to the IT major as its executive chairman.
He was part of a four-member team in the chairman's
office that was responsible for driving cost optimisation, managing the top clients and global delivery. He was instrumental in managing the transition period when Vishal Sikka took over as the new CEO in mid-2014.
An MTech in mechanical engineering from IIT-Madras and MBA in finance and strategy from IIM-Ahmedabad, Ranganath took over the charge of the CFO's role in October 2015.
"His departure is an irreplaceable loss for Infosys at this
critical juncture," said company's founder and former chairman N R Narayana Murthy. The latter had hired Ranganath in 2000 when he was with ICICI Bank as a senior vice-president.
"Ranganath's ability to take tough decisions in challenging situations, his solid financial expertise, strong value system, unfailing courtesy and flawless execution always distinguished him as an exemplary leader and a key asset for the company. He is a rare individual who understands important stakeholders -
clients, delivery teams, employee aspirations, finance, investors, governance, the law, and the role of an ethical business in building a better society. He is everything the idea of Infosys has stood for," Murthy added. Ranganath's exit comes at a time when the Bengalurubased company is fighting battles at several fronts, including bringing back stability at the top under a new CEO who has joined in January.