Infosys on Friday bid farewell to Kris Gopalakrishnan and NR Narayana Murthy (who had come out of retirement to lead the company). Their terms as non-executive vice-chairman and non-executive chairman, respectively, end on Friday.

A farewell function was held at Infosys headquarters in Bangalore, with six of the seven founders — Gopalakrishnan, Murthy, K Dinesh, Nandan M Nilekani, SD Shibulal and NS Raghavan — in attendance. Ashok Arora, who is in the US, was unable to attend.

Gopalakrishnan said he had spent over half his life at Infosys and knew each of the founders for 35 years.

On being asked if he had any political ambitions to pursue after leaving Infosys, Gopalakrishnan said: “I have no political ambitions at all. After Infosys I will pursue two things: research & education, and entrepreneurship & startups.

Murthy said he remembers the past 33 years at Infosys as an exhilarating journey where he experimented with what he believes to be the only way societies can alleviate poverty: job creation.

“This journey has been an experiment in my belief in compassionate capitalism and my belief in differentiation through innovation.”

Stating that the high point of his journey at Infosys was sitting on a high stool under scorching lights when Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on the Nasdaq, Murthy said, he had no low points or regrets about his journey at Infosys.

“Never in the past has this country seen and probably never in the future will this country see, a set of founders who nurtured their creation with care, sacrifice and passion for 33 years and passed it on with equanimity to a set of outsiders.”

He said the founders are leaving with satisfaction of taking this company from a market value of ₹28.5 crore on the day of listing in India in 1993 to ₹2,00,000 crore today, a return of 6,50,000 per cent over 21 years, at a CAGR of 89 per cent.

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