Infosys@40: From an idea to a $71.41 bn company
Established in 1981 by N R Narayana Murthy, who is also known as the 'father of the Indian IT sector, along with Nandan Nilekani, Kris Gopalakrishnan, SD Shibulal, K.Dinesh, NS Raghavan and Ashok Arora, Infosys pioneered the global delivery model and became the first IT company from India to be listed on Nasdaq in 1999. From a capital of $250, it has grown to become a $17.53-billion (LTM FY23 revenue) company with a market capitalisation of approximately $71.41 billion. It now has more than 345,000 employees. The company is now focusing on building cutting-edge products and services in areas such as cybersecurity, cloud computing and data analytics.
According to its founder, we wanted to create a company of the professional, for the professional and by the professional to seek respect from every stakeholder. The other purpose behind starting Infosys was to show that it is possible for a company in India to demonstrate the highest level of governance and excellence in running the firm.
The Co-founder, NR Narayana Murthy also said that he was "completely wrong", referring to the company's policy of keeping family members of the company's founders away from leadership positions. In his words, "I think I was depriving this organisation of legitimate talent. I take back whatever I said. I think that every individual must have the same opportunity as every other individual if he or she is considered the best person for the role".
