Vishal Sikka quits as Infosys MD, CEO citing personal attacks; stocks crash

Mumbai:  Vishal Sikka, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of techonology giant Infosys has resigned from his position.

Sikka will however continue as the Executive Vice Chairman of the company. Meanwhile, U B Pravin Rao has been appointed as the CEO and MD of Infosys.

"The succession plan for appointment of a new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer has been operationalised by the Board and a search for the same has been commenced," read a statement released by the company.

In his resignation letter to the company, Sikka cited a "stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters, increasingly personal and negative as of late, as preventing management's ability to accelerate the Company's transformation".

In its statement accepting Sikka's resignation, the Infosys board said, "The board understands and acknowledges Dr Sikka's reasons for resignation, and regrets his decision. In particular, the board is profoundly distressed by the unfounded personal attacks on the members of our management team that were made in the anonymous letters and have surfaced in recent months". 

Thanking Sikka for his "extraordinary constirbutions" to the company, the board reiterated that a series of investigations into the allegations made against Sikka found "no merit". The board condemned the critics who promoted the "false allegations".

According to the company statement, Sikka's tenure at Infosys increased its revenues from USD 2.13 billion in Q1 of FY15 to USD 2.65 billion this past Q1, with a "strong margin performance and cash generation".

Sikka's rule been facing alot of flak for the way the company was run. Founders of the company like Narayana Murthy had raised several questions regarding Rs 23 crore severance package given to a departing chief financial officer. 

Infosys has also seen a rush of high-level exits in recent times. Sikka was also criticised for other issues like the acquisitions he made and his pay package.

Vishal Sikka joined Infosys in April, 2014, bringing along with him a team of colleagues from his former work place SAP SE.

The benchmark BSE Sensex took a 200-point plunge after the morning announcement of Sikka's resignation. 

The company's shares were trading down by nearly 7 per cent at Rs 951.70 on the BSE. On the NSE, Infosys stock opened at Rs 1,017.90, fell to 951.25, down by 6.82 per cent.