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When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Or so, goes the saying. N.R. Narayana Murthy’s return to Infosys as Executive Chairman is a path taken by several iconic CEOs in the American corporate world who returned to rescue the companies they founded from damnation.
The most spectacular return was, of course, that of Steve Jobs who was ousted from Apple, a company he founded, in 1985 in a bitter battle with other directors of the company and returned in 1997 to rescue the floundering company. Jobs took Apple to great heights thereon with a series of blockbuster launches and redefined several industries in the process – from music to telecom.
The other celebrated return to the company he nurtured is that of Starbucks’ Howard Schultz.
Schultz served as CEO from 1987 to 2000 before he stepped down. Schultz had bought Starbucks in 1987, where he used to work earlier, before he founded his own coffee chain. He returned as CEO in 2008 when Starbucks seemed to have lost its zing with competitors such as Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonalds taking away its USP of serving gourmet coffee with their own offerings. Under Schultz’s leadership, Starbucks has expanded to newer geographies, including India, and also acquired the sobriquet of being ‘the third place’, one away from the office and home. More recently, A.G. Lafley, the legendary erstwhile Chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, announced that he is returning to head the consumer goods company when the current CEO retires June-end. Lafley was CEO from 2000-09 and led the company on a period of spectacular growth.
Comparing Narayana Murthy’s return to Infosys in an executive role pretty much like some of the iconic American CEOs, the Managing Director of an Indian consumer goods company, who did not wish to be named, said that in each of these cases, the founders knew the company well and were highly visionary and creative people. All of them had successful first tenures and, when the serving CEO lost his way, they returned to give direction again to their companies.
“And, in each of these cases, shareholder value went up because of their return.” NRN’s return to Infy will also be watched closely to see if the shareholders benefit from it.
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