Infosys CEO SD Shibulal wants to quit before term ends

Bangalore, 11 April-2014(IANS): Infosys, India’s second largest outsourcer, has started looking for a new leader after incumbent chief executive officer and managing director SD Shibulal expressed his desire to retire from the company before his superannuation next year. Mr Shibulal is one of the seven Infosys founders.

Infosys CEO SD Shibulal wants to quit before term ends

Infosys CEO Shibulal wants to quit before term ends

“Mr Shibulal has expressed his desire to retire either on the date of the last board meeting before his superannuation – January 9, 2015 or when his successor is ready to assume office, whichever date is earlier,” Infosys said in a statement.

Nine high-ranking executives have quite Infosys since its co-founder NR Narayana Murthy returned from retirement in June 2013. The spate of exits over the last 10 months has often been linked to the battle for the chief executive’s chair. Infosys is likely to get a non-founder CEO for the first time after Mr Shibulal retires.

Infosys said it is open to an internal candidate or an outsider to head the company. Infosys’ nominations committee, entrusted with selecting a new CEO, will short list and evaluate internal candidates with the assistance of a corporate executive evaluations company. The board has also appointed Egon Zehnder, an executive search firm, to assist the committee in identifying external candidates, Infosys said.

Recently elevated executives Pravin Rao and B.G. Srinivas are seen as frontrunners to head Infosys as far as internal candidates are concerned, analysts say. Both of them are designated as president and are members of Infosys board.

The announcement comes three days before Infosys is set to announce its March quarter numbers. Infosys shares traded 0.9 per cent lower at Rs. 3,178.85 as of 1 p.m., underperforming the broader IT benchmark, which was down 0.6 per cent. (Track stock)