Infosys founder retires

In a much anticipated move NR Narayana Murthy stepped down from Infosys at the company mandated age of 60 today. The story of Infosys has been told many times and is quite an inspiration for any entrepreneur. However, less talked about is Murthy’s wife Sudha, the sister of Jaishree Deshpande (wife of serial entrepreneur Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande of Sycamore Networks fame). She came across a job advertisement in February 1974, which said Telco (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company) wanted bright young graduates. But it stated “female candidates need not apply” she than shot off a ‘postcard’ to JRD Tata asking him how a leading and progressive house like the Tatas, “which always thought ahead of time, could put such a restriction.” She went on to become the first lady technical officer at Telco (now Tata Motors). She now runs the Infosys Foundation with the sole objective of uplifting the less-privileged sections of society.
Mr. Murthy’s Milestones:
1967 – Receives Bachelor of Engineering from University of Mysore
1969 – Receives degree from IIT-Kanpur, joins Patni Computer Systems
1981 – Starts Infosys with Rs 10,000 in Pune with 6 other people
1983 – Gets first customer and moves headquarters to Bangalore
1987 – Opens first US office in Boston
1999 – USD 100 million in revenue, first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ 2000 – USD 200 million in revenue
2005 – USD 1 billion in revenue 2006 – USD 2 billion in revenue