Narayana Murthy's homecoming but not as Infosys owner

N R Narayana Murthy, who has made a dramatic return to head Infosys again along with his son Rohan to help as executive assistant, owns a mere 0.41 per cent of shares in the company. His wife Sudha, who had initially loaned him Rs 10,000 to start Infosys, is, in fact, a bigger shareholder with a 1.27-per cent stake with roughly thrice the number of shares than him.

The Murthys appear to have been quite indulgent when it comes to their daughter Akshata and son Rohan, who have been given a 1.41-per cent and 1.36-per cent stake. An Infosys insider told Mail Today that it is this shareholding pattern that must be kept in mind in any analysis of Murthy's return. It is Murthy's deep understanding of the IT sector and the company that has prompted the Board to recall him from retirement, he explained. It is not as though an owner of a company has come back to take charge at the helm, he added. He pointed out that while Infosys and Wipro are at the surface similar companies engaged in an identical business, it is the sharp contrast in the shareholding pattern of the two software giants that sets them poles apart.

Interestingly, the promoters' equity in Infosys is a mere 16.04 per cent of the total stake, which is largely held by public shareholders. The promoter share in Azim Premji-run Wipro, even after he donated 12 per cent shares to a charitable trust in February, stood at a chunky 58 per cent.

The Azim Premji Foundation holds a 20-per cent stake. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, owns a 1.45-per cent stake, which is bigger than the 1.41-per cent share of equity that his wife Rohini has. Unlike the Murthys, the couple has passed on relatively smaller but equal stakes to their children Janhavi and Nihar of 0.29 per cent each.
In the case of S. Gopalakrish-nan, his wife Sudha owns nearly twice the number of shares amounting to a 2.14-per cent stake in Infosys. Their children Meghana and Dinesh own stakes of 0.11 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. Dinesh Krishnaswamy holds 0.8-per cent stake and his wife Asha 1.26 per cent. They have given equitable stakes of 0.24 per cent each to their daughters Asha and Divya.

SD Shibulal, another co-founder, has 0.43-per cent stake, which is only a little less than 0.49 per cent owned by his wife. The couple like the Murthys have given a bigger stake to their kids Shruti and Shreyas of 0.64 per cent each.

Courtesy: Mail Today