BANGALORE: A self-proclaimed common man who created uncommon
wealth for shareholders, employees and the founders got a warm farewell at the
30th annual general meeting of Infosys.
N R Narayana
Murthy on Saturday chaired the AGM for the last time as he hangs up his
boots in August at
Infosys — his
"middle child".
Addressing shareholders, among whom sat people with just
15 shares and those with lakhs, Murthy said: "I am an average person with many
below-average attributes.... My little story should be a confidence-booster for
every average person in the world (so) that he or she can make a difference, at
least in a small way, to this world."
Such typical humility apart,
what's incontestable is the fact that Murthy will go down as the architect of
one of the biggest wealth-creation stories in
India. Infosys
employees, through stock options, have benefited to the extent of Rs 50,000
crore as the company has distributed 27% of its equity among them. The dividend
distributed among the shareholders amounts to Rs 11,623 crore. The market
capitalisation of Infosys, with 4.5 lakh shareholders, has annually grown at a
compounded rate of 50% since 1994, making it India's second most valued
technology company.
Watched by his newlywed son Rohan, daughter-in-law
Lakshmi, wife Sudha and the families of other founders and senior executives,
Murthy said turning 30 — Infosys is in its 30th year of operations — is a good
time to reflect and look ahead. Thirty is also a time to break new ground.
The company, which announced four new members to its board — V
Balakrishnan, Ashok Vemuri, BG Srinivas and Anne Fudge — is positioning itself
for a new version: Infosys 3.0. Murthy said: "The crucial things we have to do
are: be firm in pursuing our values, recognize our weaknesses, embrace
meritocracy, be open-minded about learning from people better than us, learn
from our mistakes and not repeat them, be humble, honest and courteous, be firm
in taking quick decisions."
"The Infosys journey has been an integral
part of my life. My colleagues say Infosys is an inseparable part of me, and I
am an inseparable part of Infosys. I have been a No. 1 actor in every major
decision taken in this company so far. I have rejoiced in every milestone of the
company." He admitted: "It is not easy for me to deliver my last address at this
forum. As I speak, a mosaic of images from the past whizz through my mind. The
list seems endless, and it would be difficult to narrate them all. The day we
assembled in my tiny apartment in
Mumbai to decide that
respect from every shareholder was the most valuable thing for us, was
momentous.