Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka resigned and Pravin Rao has been appointed as the interim CEO, the company said in a notice to stock exchanges
Blames personal attacks for decision to resign as Infosys CEO in blog
AMN /BENGALURU
Vishal Sikka on Friday abruptly resigned as CEO of the Infosys, the India’s second largest software exporter. The company has appointed veteran U.B. Pravin Rao as the interim CEO.
Three years ago Sikka took over as the first non-founder chief executive of Infosys, who is also former SAP technology chief.
Sikka has been appointed as executive vice chairman in a newly created position, Infosys said in a notice to stock exchanges on Friday morning.
Infosys said that the company’s board had accepted Sikka’s resignation during a board meeting held on Friday.
“In his notice of resignation to the Board, Dr. Sikka reiterated his belief in the great potential of Infosys, but cited among his reasons for leaving a continuous stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters, increasingly personal and negative as of late, as preventing management’s ability to accelerate the Company’s transformation,” said Infosys.
“I want to thank Vishal for his commitment to ensure a smooth transition and his commitment to a seamless experience for our clients. Pravin is a veteran Infoscion with deep knowledge of the business, and his long experience in the Company will help ensure a smooth transition,” said Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan.
Infosys shares fall nearly 8% its steepest fall in nine month. Investors lost nearly Rs1,7000 crore market capitalisation on this news. The stock touched a low of Rs944 a share and fell as much as 7.55%, its steepest fall since 9 November 2016.
Blames personal attacks for decision to resign as Infosys CEO in blog
Vishal Sikka blamed “ unrelenting, baseless and increasingly” personal attacks for his decision to step down as CEO of Infosys, adding that he had no regrets from his three-year tenure at India’s second largest software services exporter.
In a blogpost on his personal blog Friday he writes, “For days, indeed weeks, this decision has weighed on me. I have wrestled the pros and cons, the issues and the counterbalancing arguments. But now, after much thought, and considering the environment of the last few quarters, I am clear in my decision. It is clear to me that despite our successes over the last three years, and the powerful seeds of innovation that we have sown, I cannot carry out my job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks,” Sikka said in the blogpost.