Infosys CEO steps down after 'malicious' and 'personal' attacks from founder

Vishal Sikka resigns from Indian outsourcing giant following increased criticism from the firm's founder

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka has stepped down after claiming to be the victim of "unrelenting, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks".

In post on his blog, Sikka said he will step down as CEO and managing director of Infosys with immediate effect, but will stay on as executive vice president of the board until a replacement is found. COO Pravin Rao has taken the role of interim CEO.

Following Sikka's resignation, Infosys released a statement to stock exchanges claiming that a "continuous assault" from Infosys' founder Narayana Murthy is the main reason for Sikka's departure - citing in particular a letter Murthy recently sent out to media publications.

The statement said: "Mr. Murthy's continuous assault, including this latest letter, is the primary reason that the CEO, Dr Vishal Sikka, has resigned despite strong board support.

"Mr Murthy's letter contains factual inaccuracies, already disproved rumours, and statements extracted out of context from his conversations with Board members.

"The Board assures its shareholders, employees, customers and communities that it is committed not to be distracted by this misguided campaign by Mr Murthy and will continue to adhere to the highest international standards of corporate governance as it executes its strategy of profitable growth for the benefit of all Infosys stakeholders."

Murthy founded Infosys in 1981 and was CEO until retiring in 2002, but still holds 0.38 per cent of the $10bn company's shares, according to a company filing in June.

The statement went on to claim that founder Murthy has been making "inappropriate" demands to the board, threatening to attack the firm in the media if these are not met.

He insisted certain people be appointed to the board and that it adopt particular policies, the statement claimed.

Moving on

Following his resignation, Sikka posted the letter he sent to employees on his blog, under the heading ‘Moving on'.

In the letter Sikka expressed his satisfaction at the progress Infosys made during his tenure, saying that the firm has "decisively turned things around" after he joined during a challenging time in 2014.

Sikka also highlighted Infosys' improved numbers,with revenue growing from $2.13bn in Q1 2015 to $2.65bn in Q1 this year.

Despite the progress, Sikka said his position has now become untenable.

"After much contemplation I have decided to leave because the distractions, the very public noise around us, have created an untenable atmosphere," he said.

"I deeply believe in creating value in an atmosphere of freedom, trust and empowerment. Life is too short to engage in battles of opinions in the public. These add no value, take critical time and focus away from the business, and indeed add more to the noise."