Narayan Murthy Biography – The Success Story of Infosys

A father of two N (Nagavara) R (Ramarao) Narayan Murthy was born in a middle-class family. His father being a teacher was the sole breadwinner of the family.

Raised in Karnataka, Murthy graduated from the University of Mysore after pursuing Electrical Engineering and went on to get a master's degree from IIT Kanpur.

After graduating he worked as a researcher and then chief system programmer in the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. After working for some time as a 9 - 5 worker, Murthy wanted to do something of his own.

Murthy opened a small company named Softonics but it failed miserably. He was jobless then. Around this time he was dating his now-wife Sudha Murthy. In an interview, Mrs. Murthy told that Murthy never had money when she used to go out with him. She always used to pay for him. She also added that he always told her he would pay her later but he never did.

After dating and paying for Murthy for a long time they decided to get married, but Murthy’s father did not agree as Murthy was jobless. Because he didn’t want to lose the love of his life, Murthy started working in Patni's computer system in Pune.

After marriage, Murthy left the company again to start his own company but this time it was with the co-workers of Patni computers. They sat in Murthy’s house discussing the company and made Murthy’s room their office.

The company was named Infosys; it was an IT consultancy in Pune. The initial amount for starting the company was 10,000 which was given to Murthy by his wife Sudha. The amount was very small for the company and there was no computer in the company for the initial two years. They worked together and managed to buy the first computer for their company.

The initial years were very tough and the company wouldn’t get many clients. Their goal was to make an impact in the American market. They partnered with Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA) but it didn’t go smooth and they had to call it off.

After this event, one partner decided to leave. Murthy gave others also the opportunity to leave the company, but the others decided to stay and the hard work continued.

Soon, Infosys started working with Data Basics Corp where it served as an on-site software developer. After this, it again partnered with KSA and both handled the US marketing.

Today Infosys headquarters is located in Bangalore and it has headquarters in California as well. It is a global IT consultancy and is listed on NASDAQ.

Murthy has two children, one son, Rohan Murthy, and a daughter Akshata Murthy. The son was a part of Infosys but he left and went ahead with other ventures of his life. His daughter is happily married.

Today Murthy is a billionaire and has achieved a lot in his life. His wife is also a public figure. She has written various books and is in Philanthropy with Murthy’s company. Murthy retired as the chairman of the company and now donates his time to the Infosys foundation situated in IIT Kanpur.

The Infosys foundation works and provides social services. The sectors include healthcare, hygiene, women, and many others. The foundation doesn’t do it because people need help but they do it as a responsibility to give people what they deserve.

Murthy today is living a very lavish life with a whole lot of awards including Padma Vibhushan with him and is an idol for many. His principles of success are followed internationally and he still continues to impress many youngsters today.

For Murthy, it was never easy. He had to struggle for many years of his life before getting the comfort he deserved. His path of success is mainly because of the good company he had and a very good wife which he had and still has. Without having this strong support it would have been difficult for Murthy.