Name: N.R. Narayana Murthy

Age: 61

Country: India

Category: Business

Calling: Businessman

The Beginning

Born on 20^th August, 1946. He attended government school and did his graduation in electrical engineering from the University of Mysore. He did his Masters from IIT Kanpur and began his career as Chief systems programmer at IIM Ahmedabad. After working there, he joined the Patni Computer Systems in Pune.

Rise

Sometime in January 81 Murthy discussed plans for starting a software code developing firm in India. Six months later, the company was founded with a meager capital of around Rs 10,000 , which Murthy borrowed from his wife and famous writer Sudha Murthy. The front room of Murthy’s modest house was Infosys’ first office while the registered office was the home of one of the co-founders. Today, Infosys operates nine development centres in India having over 30 offices worldwide. It had annual revenues of more than $3.1 billion for the fiscal year 2006-2007 employing over 75,971 professionals along with its subsidiaries.

Power-Play

'Murthy was always broke. He always owed me money. We used to go for dinner and he would say, 'I don't have money with me, you pay my share, will return it to you later.' For three years, I maintained a book of Murthy's debts to me. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after our wedding. The amount was a little over Rs 4,000.' These are excerpts from Sudha Murthy’s book ‘Reminiscences’. Murthy never gave up his project even though one of the founders left it in the middle of the crisis. His friends and other co-founders stayed and are now reaping rich dividends. From awards from the Government of India and the coveted Ernst and Young, to a mention alongside software giants such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffet, Murthy is a living example of courage against all odds.