Indian IT giant Infosys named its co-founder and former head Nandan Nilekani as non-executive chairman on Thursday after chief executive Vishal Sikka's resignation last week after a long-drawn dispute between its board members and founders.
Shares of Infosys surged for a third straight day on Thursday, following reports that Nilekani could step in to the company's board in a bid to calm the ongoing controversies that the company is going through at present.
"I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities," Nilekani said.
The decision to bring Nilekani back to the board will likely comfort employees and shareholder fears after Vishal Sikka resigned last week that blew investor confidence and wiped billions of dollars from the company's market value.
Nilekani also said that the board will hold active an shareholder consultation process as one of the major parts of its overall engagement initiatives with all the stakeholders of the company.
Ripple effect of Sikka's resignation
The IT firm's Executive Vice-Chairman R Seshasayee and two more directors also resigned after Vishal Sikka stepped down from his position.
Co-chair Ravi Venkatesan too stepped down after Nilekani's appointment but will continue as an independent director, the company said.
Nilekani's return could suggest that more directors may leave the board as even Sikka's tenure in the company has come to an end after he stepped down from the IT firm.
Great expectations
Nandan Nilekani began as one of the founders of the giant tech firm Infosys. He served as CEO from 2002 to 2007. Nilekani is often credited for driving up the company's annual revenue to $2 billion during his tenure as CEO.
"Nandan is the ideal leader for Infosys at this stage of the company's development. His appointment will allow Infosys to focus on the strategic changes it needs to make in order to capitalise on the attractive opportunities in the years ahead," said R Seshasayee on Thursday.
"Under Nandan, Infosys will build a cohesive management team that will no doubt take the company to a leadership position in the industry," added Seshasayee.
