Narayana Murthy birthday: The journey of an entrepreneur

Only someone living under a literal rock would be unaware of the billionaire businessman Narayana Murthy. The business tycoon came up with Infosys around four decades ago and is one of the biggest IT companies in the world.

Murthy is amongst the 12 biggest entrepreneurs of our time as quoted by Fortune magazine. He has been called the "father of the Indian IT sector" by Time magazine and CNBC for what he has done for outsourcing in India.

Narayana Murthy was born on 20th August, 1946, in Sidlaghatta, Karnataka and was raised in a middle-class Hindu family. He gained his early education in electrical engineering from National Institute of Engineering and further his Masters from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He also received his honorary degree from Lancaster University.

Narayana Murthy made headlines with his interview from December 2023 with T.V. Mohandas Pai. He gave the interview for a special podcast show on 3one4 Capital on ‘The Record’ called 'Leadership by Example’ in collaboration with Catamaran. In his interview, he says that if India wants to compete effectively on a global stage then India's work culture has to change and youngsters should be prepared to work for 70 hours a week.

He drew parallels between Japan and Germany, who have implemented extended working hours. When Murthy was asked how he envisioned the next 10 or 15 years, Narayana Murthy underlined the need to improve productivity in India and remove the government delays. For his statements, he received a lot of criticism as well as appreciation from other celebrated individuals, who called his plan impractical for India.

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But why did Narayana Murthy’s views create a massive uproar? With a net worth of 500 crore USD he is what we call an afflatus for millions of Indian out there who want to achieve something in the IT sector. The story of him bringing Infosys from being a small start-up he started with 250$ in Pune to the second largest IT company in India is truly a marvel. Infosys has grown in revenues from $40,000 in 1982 to $6.99 billion in 2012, with an employee base of 150,000. He is a celebrated individual with a clear insight and vision on how to build an entrepreneurial empire.

He is married to famous author and philanthropist Sudha Murthy and has two children with her. Making headlines time and again, the couple makes strong statements and provide their insights in all their talks and interviews. They are a power couple with so much inspiration to offer.

He has been awarded several civil and humanitarian like Padma Shri 2000, Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2007), Legion of Honour (2008), and Padma Vibhushan in 2008. In a recent Ted Talk he gave on Leadership, he identified himself as a ‘Tech Optimist’ and not an AI ‘Doomer’. He is positive that if used like a mindful tool, AI can be fruitful for the future of coding.

Today on his birthday we celebrate him for his thoughts, his works, his simple yet magical message delivery, his dedication to his mission, and his sheer zeal, even at the age of 78. We wish him new heights in his professional ventures and his personal life.