Nandan Nilekani returned to lead Infosys Ltd. as chairman took control and pushed out four board members.
Mr Nilekani, one of the seven engineers who founded Infosys in 1981, was its CEO from 2002 to 2007 and will take over as non-executive chairman and non-independent director with immediate effect.
R Seshasayee, Jeffrey S Lehman, John Etchemendy and Sikka resigned from the board. Ravi Venkatesan stepped down as co-chairman but will continue as an independent director. UB Pravin Rao will remain the interim CEO.
This brings back a founder on the board of Infosys after a gap of three years that coincided with Sikka’s term
Mr Murthy and a few former Infosys executives have for months waged a public battle against the board of Infosys, accusing it of corporate governance lapses.
Vishal Sikka who was made vice-chairman till his successor was appointed, also quit the board with immediate effect.
A dozen institutional investors, including HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Birla SunLife Asset Management -- who together own roughly 10 per cent of Infosys shares -- also wrote to the Board seeking return of Nilekani, arguing that he enjoyed the confidence of clients, shareholders and employees.
His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on strategic changes it needs to make, in order to capitalise on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead