Narayan Murthy
With networth over $2.5 billion
Narayana Murthy (born 20 August 1946) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder of Infosys, and was chairman, chief executive officer, president, and chief mentor, before retiring and taking the title chairman emeritus.
1. He stays a common man. Murthy lives in the same flat in Bangalore where Infosys was started. He could easily live in a mansion, but he doesn't. Their only indulgence after his success is the number of books they have at home. He is one big bookworm! The only gifts accepted at his son's marriage were donations to Akshaya Patra. One of his favorite sayings is, ' The real power of money is in giving it away.'
2. He cleans his own toilet. He cleans his plate after his meals. Great sense of the dignity of labor.
3. Infosys is his child. Many have seen him personally take care of small things like electrical work at cafeterias on the Mysore campus.
4. He never ever bribes and is known for his high ethics. In the early stages of Infosys, the company had to import a computer for a certain project. The customs people would not release it without a bribe. The deadline was exceeded and hence, Infosys had to pay penalties for it as long as the computer was in customs. Many people advised Murthy to let it go, as they were losing money in the form of penalties. Murthy stayed adamant. Finally, the customs guys gave up and sent the computer without any bribe. For then on, every time Infosys imports something, it gets a quick delivery without any bribe.
5. He is a bookworm. He is an introvert. His perfect holiday would be sitting down in his reading chair. He never goes to movies. Last time his daughter booked tickets for Murthy and his wife on their anniversary, he went with his driver (as Sudha had other plans).
6. He proposed to Sudha something like this, ' I will never be rich, but I will take good care of you.' It's one of the few times he was completely wrong.
7. Murthy was the last of the founders to officially join Infosys. The reason being, he was part of a project at Patni Computers (his former employer) which got delayed. Murthy could have just walked away to build his dream company. Instead, he stayed with Patni for 2 long years.
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