Can take NRN nominees on board, says Infy chairman

The Infosys board will consider inducting names recommended by founder N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman R Seshasayee said on Tuesday.

Speaking to investors on a conference call, he said, “These names were revealed to the media and directly to us. We will give due respect to these suggestions.”

Murthy has recommended the appointment of Marti G Subrahmanyam, professor of finance at the Stern School of Business, New York University, as co-chairman.

Other names doing the rounds for directors’ posts are Ranganath D Mavinakere, executive vice president and chief financial officer (hired by Murthy), and former CFOs Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan. Seshasayee sought to calm nerves, saying the board would continue to take inputs from the founders and other stakeholders. He also said the public exchanges between the board and the founders were not good for the company.

“We should engage with the founders bilaterally.... I explained that there are limitations that we would have in terms of dealing with all the inputs or suggestions, and I think we have a renewed commitment not to spill this into the public space,” he said.

During the crisis over the past few days, he said, neither the management nor the employees had been distracted from the business.