Sudha Murty: Successful Story Of Infosys Chairperson!

Sudha Murty is an Indian author, educator, and philanthropist. Married to N. R. Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, Sudha is also the Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, a non-profit organization. Some of her best-selling books include Grandma’s Bag of Stories, The Magic Of The Lost Story, and Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives.

In 2006, the Government of India honored her with the coveted Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the country for her contributions to the field of social work. Sudha is also a recipient of Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India, and was presented with this award in 2023.

Physical Stats

Family

Born on 19 August 1951, Sudha hails from a Deshastha Brahmin family. Her father R. H. Kulkarni was a surgeon by profession and her mother Vimala Kulkarni was a school teacher. Sudha has three siblings, a brother, and two sisters. Sudha’s brother Shrinivas Ramchandra Kulkarni is a US-based astronomer and her sisters include Jaishree Deshpande, wife of Gururaj Deshpande (the renowned venture capitalist and entrepreneur), and Sunanda Kulkarni.

Education

Sudha earned her bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology. Later she joined the Indian Institute of Science and completed her M.Eng. in Computer Science. 

Relationship

Sudha and Narayana Murthy met each other via Prasanna, a mutual friend. Back then Prasanna was training with Sudha in TELCO (now Tata Motors). It was Narayana who made the first move by inviting Sudha and her friends for dinner. The interesting part was that Sudha was the only girl in that group.

Soon Sudha and Narayana became friends and their discussions used to revolve around Narayana’s books and overseas visits. With the turn of events, Narayana proposed to Sudha and also disclosed to her his financial condition. Before committing to Narayana, Sudha went back to her hometown and discussed the matter of his proposal with her parents. Initially, Sudha’s parents were against their marriage as Narayana did not have a stable job. Later, they agreed on the condition that till the time Narayana had a steady job, he could not marry Sudha.

Finally, the couple got married on Feb 10th, 1978 in Bengaluru. At that time Narayana was working as General Manager at Patni Computers Mumbai.

Sudha and Narayana have two children, Rohan and Akshata. Rohan works as the chief technical officer of Soroco, the digital transformation company. Akshata who is a director at Catamaran Ventures UK is married to Rishi Sunak, the present Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Controversies

In November 2022, it stirred controversy when Sudha touched the feet of Sambhaji Bhide, a right-wing leader. The incident happened in Sangli, Maharashtra where she was attending a promotional event for her books. Prior to this controversial incident, Sambhaji was in the news as he refused to speak to a journalist who was not wearing a bindi.

The video of Sudha touching the politician’s feet went viral and it invited a lot of sharp criticism. However, Sudha later justified her action by stating that she did not know Sambhaji personally and that it was our culture to touch the feet of elderly people. The author also mentioned that she was not aware of his personal opinions. 

Reportedly, Bhide wanted to speak to Sudha for one and a half hours. However, Sudha replied that she did not have more than one and a half minutes for him.

Profession

Sudha kick-started her professional life by creating history. She dared to write a postcard to TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO)’s Chairman complaining about the “men only” gender bias at the company. As a result, the company scheduled a special interview for Sudha and hired her immediately. Thus she holds the distinction of being the first female engineer to be hired at TELCO. Sudha joined as a Development Engineer at the company’s Pune office and later worked in Mumbai and Jamshedpur also.

Sudha’s next stint was with Walchand Group of Industries, Pune as a Senior Systems Analyst. In 1996, she floated Infosys Foundation with a sum of Rs.9 lakhs and has been the Trustee of Infosys Foundation. 

In her teaching career, Sudha worked as a Visiting Professor at the PG Center of Bangalore University. She also used to take classes at Christ University. As an author, she has written books in several genres ranging from novels, non-fiction, technical books, travelogues, and memoirs. Sudha also works as a columnist with major English and Kannada newspapers.

Source Of Income

Reportedly, Sudha’s net worth stands at Rs. 775 crores, and her estimated earnings from Infosys stocks is Rs. 5,384 crores. Her major source of income is the royalty earned from books, short stories, and from the Infosys foundation.

Lesser Known Facts About Sudha Murty

• Sudha always told her children that they should not spend unnecessarily. Though she wanted her children to be rooted, respectful, and compassionate, Sudha admits that being surrounded by money, it became tough for her to teach them to live a simple life.

• She says that if she was after money, she would have never married Narayana Murty as he was running short of money at that point in time.

• On her last day at TELCO, Sudha met JRD Tata and he told her that once she becomes rich, she must give back to society.

• When Narayana went to meet Sudha’s father for the first time, he turned up 2 hours late and Sudha’s father lost his cool.

• She loves watching movies and has watched the Hindi movie ‘Mughal-E-Azam 4 times.

• Sudha’s mom advised her to save money without her husband’s knowledge so that they can use those savings in times of emergency. It was Sudha who gave Rs.10,000 to her husband for starting Infosys.

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