Have a heartfelt and warm relationship with Murthy: Sikka
The CEO of Infosys Vishal Sikka on Monday said that he has always shared a "heartfelt, warm relationship" with the company's Co-founder Narayana Murthy. Describing Murthy as an "incredible man", Sikka said, "I meet Mr Murthy quite frequently... probably meet him 5-6 times a year." He further said that his relationship with the company's founders is "wonderful".
New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) Vishal Sikka, the embattled chief of Infosys, today said he has always shared a "heartfelt, warm relationship" with the companys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy. The comments come at a time when there has been a lot of buzz around some of the founders flagging concerns about governance lapses at Infosys and issues like hike in Sikkas compensation to USD 11 million and huge severance pay doled out to former executives, Rajiv Bansal and David Kennedy. Asked about his relationship with the founders, Sikka said: "My relationship with the founders? It is wonderful. I meet Mr Murthy quite frequently...I have always had a heartfelt warm relationship with Mr Murthy, probably meet him 4-5-6 times a year." He added that he, however, hasnt met the other founders off late. Describing Murthy as an "incredible man", Sikka said the two usually discussed topics like quantum physics and technology whenever they met. "The other day he was telling me about the Paris Metro and how he worked on the Paris Metro in the 1970s before he started Infosys, and it had this whole ideas about automation and autonomous driving and all," he reminisced. Sikka, speaking at Kotaks Chasing Growth Conference in Mumbai, said the "drama" going on in the media is very "distracting". "It takes away our attention but underneath that, there is a very strong fabric that this company is based on. And it is a real privilege for me to be its leader," he added. Sikka is scheduled to meet media representatives this evening along with some of the Board members. Infosys, on its part, has denied any governance lapses and said it has made "full disclosures" on all developments. Another issue that some of the former senior executives have raised is the huge cash pile of USD 5.25 billion that Infosys has. 