Infosys, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra: Remuneration of IT CEOs crashes in FY23; here's why

The total remuneration of the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) across major Indian IT companies like HCLTech, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra have witnessed a significant slump in FY 2022-23 as compared to FY 2021-22, as per the annual reports of the IT companies.

C Vijaykumar, who is currently the CEO of HCLTech, witnessed around an 80 per cent fall in his remuneration YoY in FY 23. Vijaykumar, who was one of the highest paid Indian CEOs in FY22 with an annual remuneration of Rs 130 crore, made around Rs 30 crore in FY23.

This drop in CEO’s annual remuneration was witnessed across the Indian IT industry. The annual remuneration of Tech Mahindra’s CEO, CP Gurnani, slipped 50 per cent YoY in FY 23. His remuneration came in at Rs 32 crore in FY23, while it was at Rs 64 crore in FY 22.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh’s remuneration also saw significant cuts. Parekh made around Rs 56.4 crore in FY 23, down around 20 per cent from his remuneration in FY 22, which was around Rs 71 crore.

The trend is visible at Wipro as well, but not as evidently. CEO Thierry Delaporte’s remuneration dropped 5 per cent to Rs 82 crore from Rs 86 crore in FY 23, as per the company’s annual report. The cuts were deeper in Wipro Chairperson Rishad Premji’s annual remuneration. Premji’s remuneration dropped by 50 per cent.

As per the information from major Indian IT company’s annual reports, Delaporte is the highest paid CEO among Indian IT players.

The slump in remuneration of CEOs across major Indian IT companies is due to multiple reasons. For example, in the case of Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji’s remuneration, the cuts were due to Wipro underperforming in FY23. 

Wipro’s annual report read, “In light of the fact that the incremental consolidated net profits for fiscal year 2023 was negative, the company determined that no commission was payable for fiscal year 2023 to Mr Rishad A Premji.”

In the case of Vijaykumar, the drop is due to HCLTech’s policy of paying Long Term Incentive (LTI) every alternate year. Vijaykumar’s LTI is due next year.

The company’s annual report read, “The long-term incentive (LTI) is paid at fixed intervals (at the end of two years) based on the achievement of milestones / parameters decided by the board. Accordingly, the LTI related to performance for FY 2021-22 and for FY 2022-23 shall be paid during FY 2023-24.”

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