Vishal Sikka, the MD and CEO of Infosys, has resigned from his position effective immediately.
He has specified “continuous distractions” as the reason for his resignation.
Acknowledging Sikka’s resignation, Infosys stated, “The board of directors of Infosys has at its meeting accepted the resignation of Dr Vishal Sikka as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company with immediate effect.”
Sikka joined Infosys on 12th June, 2014 after leaving the board at SAP. Although he has stepped down from his position, Sikka has stated that he will continue assisting the board and the management at Infosys till March 31, 2018 to enable a smooth and hassle-free transition. Till then, Sikka will be the Executive Vice-Chairman of Infosys.
The company has appointed U B Pravin Rao as the interim MD and CEO. It is searching for a replacement for Sikka.
About his decision of leaving, Sikka posted on his blog on August 17th, “For days, indeed weeks, this decision has weighed on me. I have wrestled the pros and cons, the issues and the counterbalancing arguments. But now, after much thought, and considering the environment of the last few quarters, I am clear in my decision.
“It is clear to me that despite our successes over the last three years, and the powerful seeds of innovation that we have sown, I cannot carry out my job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks.”
The California-based Sikka claimed that in the last 3 years, he and the board have strengthened the company’s foundation for the next 30 years. In the resignation email, he also talked about the company’s growth, “We have grown our revenues, from $2.13 billion in Q1FY15 to $2.65 billion this past Q1. We did so while keeping a strong focus on margins, closing this past quarter at 24.1 percent operating margin, beating some competitors for the first time in many years, and improving against most in our industry.”
Soon after the announcement of the resignation, Infosys’ share prices dropped by nearly 10 percent, which is the lowest since April 12, 2013. Also, the company’s stock has hit a 52-week low of Rs 884, down as much as 13.4% in intra-day trade.