Wipro to offer up to Rs 40 cr in annual salary to its CEO designate

The new CEO, who will join on July 6, will be one of the highest paid executives in Indian IT industry

IT services major Wipro’s Chief Executive Officer-designate Thierry Delaporte  could potentially earn up to Rs 40 crore per annum, making him one of the highest paid executives at Indian IT firms.

This pay package would be around 34 per cent higher than the total compensation that Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala received in financial year 2019-20 (FY20). It also brings the Wipro CEO’s salary on par with other top IT firms such as Infosys and Cognizant.

According to the company’s annual report, released on Friday, Delaporte will receive a basic pay of Euro 1.07-1.4 million per annum, which translates to around Rs 12 crore at the upper band.

Delaporte, who will operate out of Paris, will receive an expatriate allowance in the range of Euro 0.43-0.55 million (Rs 3.65-4.67 crore). He will also have a variable pay in the range of Euro 1.7-2.5 million per annum, which comes to around Rs 21.2 crore.

Delaporte, who was previously the chief operating officer (COO) at French IT services and consulting major Capgemini, will assume charge at Wipro on July 6.

Apart from these compensations, the CEO-designate will get a one-time cash award of $3 million (Rs 22.5 crore), payable in two tranches. “First tranche of $1.5 million is payable on July 31, 2020 and the second tranche of $1.5 million is payable on July 31, 2021,” the annual report said.

Delaporte will also be granted annual grant of 1.2 million stock units (worth around Rs 27 crore) comprising 0.3 million restricted units (RSUs) and 0.9 million performance stock units (PSUs). These stock units will be vested over a period of three years. The new CEO will also be granted a one-time stock grant of 0.3 million units (around Rs 6.6 crore) that will be vested fully after one year of grant date.

The remuneration along with service conditions, which will come up for approval in the next annual general meeting, also specifies the separation clauses. “Either of the parties may terminate the agreement upon written notice in compliance with the provisions of the French rules. In case of dismissal, Delaporte shall be granted a 6-month notice period, except if such dismissal is the result of serious or willful misconduct of the employee,” it said. In case he resigns, Delaporte has to serve a 6-month notice period, it added.

Wipro’s new CEO’s salary falls in the top league as there are only a handful of top executives at Indian or offshore-centric IT services firms who draw such compensation. Infosys’ CEO Salil Parekh, for example, drew a total compensation of $6.15 million (around Rs 45 crore) in the last financial year. Market leader TCS’s CEO Rajesh Gopinathan’s compensation in FY20 stood at Rs 13.3 crore in FY20, a drop of 16 per cent over the previous fiscal. Nasdaq-listed Cognizant’s Brian Humphries receives annual compensation of around Rs 44 crore.