Infosys on Wednesday bid adieu to S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan , the last among the group of extraordinary founders to leave the company. At the farewell function held at the company's headquarters in Bangalore, Infosys celebrated the exemplary contributions and achievements of the founding team. N. R. Narayana Murthy, K. Dinesh, Nandan M. Nilekani, S. D. Shibulal, Kris Gopalakrishnan and N. S. Raghavan were present at the ceremony.
With Kris' retirement, the last of the founding team at Infosys has moved on, carving a new path for Infosys under the leadership of Vishal Sikka, who took over as the chief executive officer and managing director of Infosys on Aug. 1, 2014. Speaking on the occasion, the founders shared experiences from their journey at Infosys.
A visibly emotional Kris Gopalakrishnan said, ''Computers have become ubiquitous and created a large industry, both in products and services. The Internet has connected the world. I have been fortunate to be part of this industry for the last 35 years of its 70 years. I was fortunate that my passion for computing became my profession, and that I was able to make an impact in this industry through Infosys, through the innovations we pioneered and the jobs we created.''
N. R. Narayana Murthy said, ''This is a unique event in the 150-plus years of corporate India. Never in the past has this country seen, and probably never in the future will this country see, a set of founders who nurtured their creation with care, sacrifice and passion for 33 years and passed it on with equanimity to a set of outsiders. We leave with the satisfaction of taking this company from a market value of Rs. 285 million on the day of listing in India in 1993 to Rs. 2,00,000 crores today, a return of 6,50,000% over 21 years - a CAGR of 89%. We leave with the distinction of creating several firsts in good corporate governance in India and the world.''
Shares of the company gained Rs 33.8, or 0.93%, to trade at Rs 3,684. The total volume of shares traded was 25,218 at the BSE (10.40 a.m., Thursday).
