Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka (Photo: DC/File)
New Delhi: Infosys Ltd will pay its new chief executive officer Vishal Sikka up to $5.08 million in annual salary besides a stock option of $2 million, a package considered lower than global peers. Mr Sikka, 47, will replace SD Shibulal and take charge on August 1.
India’s second-largest software services exporter sent out a circular calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of company shareholders on July 30 at Bengaluru to approve appointment of Mr Sikka as the new chief executive officer. According to the circular, Sikka will be paid an annual base salary of $9,00,000 and annual variable pay of $4.18 million.
The former SAP executive will also be eligible to receive an annual stock option equal to $2 million in value. Mr Sikka’s total compensation package of $7.08 million, including stock options, compares to $18 million Microsoft pays to its chief executive, $16.2 million IBM CEO gets and $14.4 million Citibank CEO receives.
Hit by several top-level exits, Infosys last month undertook a major shake-up bringing in for the first time an outsider, even as N. R. Narayana Murthy and his son Rohan stepped down four years ahead of their tenure. Mr Sikka, 47, who was previously executive board member of German IT firm SAP, will replace S. D. Shibulal, one of the seven engineers who founded Infosys in 1981, from August 1.
