Infosys Ltd co-founder NR Narayana Murthy called off his battle with the board of the information technology firm, but added that the company will have to deal with the corporate governance issues raised by him.
The Infosys board is made up of “decent people”, and chairman R Seshasayee is a person of “highest integrity”, Murthy said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Let me stop. I have made a point, paying such large sums of money is confusing. Now they have to sort it out.NR Narayana Murthy, Co-Founder, Infosys
Murthy had raised corporate governance concerns, including Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka’s compensation and the severance package extended to two former employees.
The company said that all issues pertaining to CEO compensation, the appointment of independent directors, and severance pay of former employees date back to at least a few months. The company’s position has been repeatedly explained by the management and overwhelmingly approved by the shareholders, wherever required, Infosys said in a media statement on Thursday.
Infosys also maintained that its board is independent and professional and independent directors have no interest other than their commitment to seeing the company succeed.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, an Infosys board member and chairman of biotechnology company Biocon Ltd., said that the board members have been transparent in dealing with the issues that have been pointed out. Speaking to BloombergQuint over the phone, she insisted that there was no rift between the company's management and founders.
Everybody is allowed to have a difference in opinion. That doesn’t mean there is a rift.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Director, Infosys
The Infosys board has appointed law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to review its governance standards, a media statement had said on Thursday.
The inputs received from the founders and other stakeholders will be evaluated, reviewed and recommended to the board, the statement added.
Sikka is set to address an investor’s meet at 10 am, and the Infosys board is scheduled to address a press conference at 6 pm in Mumbai.
(This article was first published on BloombergQuint.)
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