Phaneesh Murthy to offer consultancy services

After getting sacked from iGate as its CEO for not disclosing a sexual relationship with a colleague, Phaneesh Murthy is starting afresh and will offer consultancy services in areas like business strategy and restructuring.

 

"I hope to work with technology firms, which has been a significant part of my life," Murthy told PTI.

 

Before iGate, he was with Infosys and was considered an ace salesman there but a sexual harassment case in 2002 in the US ended his career with that organisation.

 

Infosys paid $3 million for an out-of-court settlement with Reka Maximovitch, the former Infosys employee who levelled the harassment charges against Murthy.

 

In 2003, Murthy co-founded a business advisory services firm called Primentor with wife Jaya.

 

Rebuilding his career, Murthy went on to become the CEO of Nasdaq-listed iGate and closed the brave acquisition of the much bigger Patni Computers in 2011 for $1.22 billion.

 

However in May this year, Murthy found himself in similar circumstances after iGate's investor relations head Araceli Roiz levelled charges that she was pregnant with Murthy's child.

 

She alleged that when Murthy discovered this, he pressurised Roiz to have an abortion.

 

After his removal from iGate, Murthy said, he has been "working things out with his family."

 

"Everyone has settled now and things look better now. Career was my priority for a very long time. But now, I am focusing on family. This is my priority now," he said.

 

Murthy has also sued iGate in a California court, contesting the basis of terminating his employment contract.

 

He said he had no option but to file the lawsuit after approaching iGate multiple times for his stock options (5,27,000 stock options worth about $17 million) and other benefits. PTI SR RNK RAH NS

 

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