My success story will inspire comman man: Narayana Murthy

BANGALORE: A self-proclaimed common man who created uncommon wealth for shareholders, employees and the founders got a warm farewell at the 30th annual general meeting of Infosys. N R Narayana Murthy on Saturday chaired the AGM for the last time as he hangs up his boots in August at Infosys — his "middle child".Addressingshareholders, among whom sat people with just 15 shares and those with lakhs,Murthy said: "I am an average person with many below-average attributes.... Mylittle story should be a confidence-booster for every average person in theworld (so) that he or she can make a difference, at least in a small way, tothis world."Such typical humility apart, what's incontestable is thefact that Murthy will go down as the architect of one of the biggestwealth-creation stories in India. Infosys employees, through stock options, havebenefited to the extent of Rs 50,000 crore as the company has distributed 27% ofits equity among them. The dividend distributed among the shareholders amountsto Rs 11,623 crore. The market capitalisation of Infosys, with 4.5 lakhshareholders, has annually grown at a compounded rate of 50% since 1994, makingit India's second most valued technology company.Watched by hisnewlywed son Rohan, daughter-in-law Lakshmi, wife Sudha and the families ofother founders and senior executives, Murthy said turning 30 — Infosys isin its 30th year of operations — is a good time to reflect and look ahead.Thirty is also a time to break new ground.The company, whichannounced four new members to its board — V Balakrishnan, Ashok Vemuri, BGSrinivas and Anne Fudge — is positioning itself for a new version: Infosys3.0. Murthy said: "The crucial things we have to do are: be firm in pursuing ourvalues, recognize our weaknesses, embrace meritocracy, be open-minded aboutlearning from people better than us, learn from our mistakes and not repeatthem, be humble, honest and courteous, be firm in taking quickdecisions.""The Infosys journey has been an integral part of mylife. My colleagues say Infosys is an inseparable part of me, and I am aninseparable part of Infosys. I have been a No. 1 actor in every major decisiontaken in this company so far. I have rejoiced in every milestone of thecompany." He admitted: "It is not easy for me to deliver my last address at thisforum. As I speak, a mosaic of images from the past whizz through my mind. Thelist seems endless, and it would be difficult to narrate them all. The day weassembled in my tiny apartment in Mumbai to decide that respect from everyshareholder was the most valuable thing for us, was momentous.