WEB DESK / AMN
Vishal Sikka blamed “ unrelenting, baseless and increasingly” personal attacks for his decision to step down as CEO of Infosys. He said 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.
Infosys CEO Sikka resigns, Pravin Rao new chief, shares plunge
“Allegations that have been repeatedly proven false and baseless by multiple, independent investigations. But despite this, the attacks continue, and worse still, amplified by the very people from whom we all expected the most steadfast support in this great transformation,” said Sikka in his resignation letter, a copy of which was sent to stock exchanges on Friday morning.
In his blogpost, Sikka also appeared to indicate that he had achieved all his goals of executing a complex technology transformation at Infosys and had successfully orchestrated a turnaround in its fortunes.
“In 2014, we started with a very challenging set of conditions, and in the last three years, we have decisively turned things around,” Sikka said.
Sikka’s tenure at Infosys was marred by significant disagreements between the company’s founders and the board of Infosys. The disagreements between the founders, led by NR Narayana Murthy, and the board started in February last year when the board decided to give Sikka a 55% pay hike to $11 million. Only 23.57% of promoter votes were cast in favour of reappointing Sikka as managing director and CEO in April last year.