Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy (born 20 August 1946) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is one of the seven co-founders of

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

, and was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief mentor of the company before retiring and becoming chairman emeritus. As of January 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$5.0 billion, according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''. Murthy was born and raised in Shidlaghatta,

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He first worked at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, as chief systems programmer, and Patni Computer Systems in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He founded Infosys in 1981 and was the CEO from 1981 to 2002, as well as the chairman from 2002 to 2011. In 2011, he stepped down from the board and became the chairman emeritus. In June 2013, Murthy was appointed as the executive chairman for a period of five years. Murthy has been listed among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time by ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' magazine. He has been described as the "father of the Indian IT sector" by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine and

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

for his contribution to outsourcing in India. In 2005, he co-chaired the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

, Switzerland. Murthy has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan and

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

awards. Murthy is the father-in-law of

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

, who was

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

from 2022 to 2024.

Early life and education

N. R. Narayana Murthy was born on 20 August 1946 in Sidlaghatta, a city in India's south-western state of

into a Kannada speaking middle-class Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family. After completing his school education, he went to the National Institute of Engineering and graduated in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. In 1969 he received his master's degree from the

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by ...

. In 2007, Murthy received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

Career

Murthy first worked as a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...

under a faculty at IIM Ahmedabad and then later as the chief systems programmer. There he worked on India's first time-sharing computer system and designed and implemented a BASIC interpreter for Electronics Corporation of India Limited. He started a company named Softronics. When that company failed after about a year and a half, he joined Patni Computer Systems in

. Murthy mentions that being arrested and expelled for no good reason during the communist era 1974 in a border town near the Yugoslav-

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n border, turned him into a "compassionate

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

" from a "confused

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

". In 1981 he, with six software professionals, founded

in Pune, with an initial capital investment of Rs 10,000, which was provided by his wife

Sudha Murty Sudha Murty (; born 19 August 1950) is an Indian educator, author, and philanthropist. She is the Founder-Chairperson of the non-profit charitable organization Infosys Foundation. She is married to the co-founder of Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murt ...

. Murthy was the CEO of Infosys for 21 years from 1981 to 2002 and was succeeded by co-founder

Nandan Nilekani Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur. He co-founded Infosys and is the non-executive chairman of Infosys replacing R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan, who were the co-chairs of the board, on 24 August 2017. After the exit of Vishal S ...

. At Infosys he articulated, designed and implemented a global delivery model for IT services outsourcing from India. He was the chairman of the board from 2002 to 2006, after which he also became the chief mentor. In August 2011, he retired from the company, taking the title chairman emeritus. Murthy is an independent director on the corporate board of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

and has been a director on the boards of

DBS Bank DBS Bank Limited is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the Marina Bay district of Singapore. The bank was previously known as The Development Bank of Si ...

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

, ICICI and

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

.Bloomberg Businessweek profile – N. R. Narayana Murthy CBE
/ref> He is also a member of the advisory boards and councils of several educational and philanthropic institutions, including

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

, ESSEC,

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

, the UN Foundation, the Indo-British Partnership, Asian Institute of Management, a trustee of the Infosys Prize, a trustee of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

in Princeton, and as a trustee of the Rhodes Trust. He is also the Chairman of the Governing board of Public Health Foundation of India. He is on the Asia Pacific advisory board of British Telecommunications. In June 2013, Murthy returned to Infosys as executive chairman and a director. In June 2014, he stood down as executive chairman, was non-executive chairman until October, when he became chairman emeritus. Murthy is also on the strategic board which advises the national law firm, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, on strategic, policy and governance issues. He is a member of IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB). In 2010, Murthy has made an investment in SKS Microfinance along with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. In 2011, Murthy has made a controversial statement on IIT Students about their abilities. In 2016, Murthy spoke with Harvard Business Review Ascend on the subject of "How To Be a Better Manager". In 2016, Murthy participated in FXC as a Board Member In 2017, Murthy raised concerns over alleged corporate governance lapses at Infosys, however the company went on to deny these claims. in 2025, Murthy faced backlash for suggesting that working hours be increased to 70 hours to increase India's productivity.

Personal life

Murthy's wife Sudha is an educator, author, and philanthropist who has served as the chairperson of the non-profit

Infosys Foundation Infosys Foundation is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation based in Karnataka, India, established in 1996 by Infosys to support the underprivileged sections of society. It supports programs in the areas of education, rural develo ...

. They have two children together: a son, Rohan, and a daughter, Akshata. From June 2013 to June 2014, Rohan Murthy joined Infosys as an executive assistant to his father. He left Infosys to create his own company called Soroco in 2014. In 2009, Akshata married British-Indian

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician

, who served as

from 2022 to 2024.

Awards and honours

Books

* ''A Better India: A Better World'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 2009 * ''A Clear Blue Sky: Stories and Poems on Conflict and Hope'', Puffin Books India, 2017 * ''The Wit and Wisdom of Narayana Murthy'', Hay House, 2016 * Mere Business Mantra indi

References

External links

*
Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murthy, N. R. Narayana 1946 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in trade & industry Businesspeople in software Kannada people Indian billionaires Businesspeople from Mysore IIT Kanpur alumni Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study Officers of the Legion of Honour Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire Businesspeople from Bengaluru Infosys people Indian software engineers 20th-century Indian engineers 20th-century Indian businesspeople HSBC people DBS Bank people Unilever people ICICI Bank NDTV Group BT Group people Cornell University staff Academic staff of INSEAD Indian technology company founders United Nations Foundation Winners of the Nikkei Asia Prize Knights of the Legion of Honour Murthy family Controversies in India