Infosys’s Ravi Venkatesan steps down from the board
BENGALURU: Ravi Venkatesan, the former co-chairman of Infosys Ltd, resigned from the post of independent director at India’s second-largest information technology outsourcing company, a move observers said was part of co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s board reconstitution.
Infosys, in a filing to the exchanges on Friday, said that Venkatesan, who joined the board in 2011, had decided to step down, as the former head of Microsoft India wanted “to pursue an exciting new opportunity”.
Last month, Infosys elevated Kiran Mazumdar Shaw as the lead independent director.
At least one proxy advisory firm believed that Venkatesan could have completed his current term—it was to end in April 2019—and that his resignation from the company reflects the board reconstitution, with more changes not ruled out in coming months. “This is not surprising and was expected, especially since what happened in August last year,” said Shriram Subramanian, managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research Services.
On August 17, the Infosys board blamed founder N R Narayana Murthy for his “continuous assault and misguided campaign”, and said this was the primary reason behind the abrupt exit of chief executive officer Vishal Sikka. As the company was thrown into chaos, Nilekani returned as non-executive chairman, even as three independent directors, including chairman R. Seshasayee, Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy, resigned. Nilekani’s return also saw Ven- katesan stepping down as co-chairman, less than five months after he was elevated to run the board along with Seshasayee, as the firm sought to buy peace with the promoters.
The trouble between Venkatesan and Murthy became public when this paper in a story on 17 August cited an email written by Murthy to some of his advisers, claiming that at least three independent directors, including Venkatesan, had told him that Sikka was more chief technology officer material than CEO material.
Venkatesan in a statement said: “My seven years on the board have been exciting, rewarding and eventful. I feel fortunate to have been part of this extraordinary company at a seminal moment in its history and to have worked with so many fine colleagues on the Board and in management.”
Nilekani said, “I thank Ravi for his pivotal contributions to Infosys in a period of important transitions and towards a digital-first future.”