Ex-Wipro boss is highest-paid Indian IT CEO for second year straight

Thierry Delaporte earned $20 mn in FY24 and $10 mn the year before; he resigned last month

Thierry Delaporte, the former leader of Wipro, became the Indian information technology (IT) sector’s highest-paid chief executive officer (CEO) for the second time in a row with an income of $20 million (about Rs 166 crore) in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). He had got a compensation of $10 million (about Rs 83 crore) in FY23.

Delaporte resigned on April 6 and he will be relieved from the employment of the company with effect from the close of business hours on May 31. Wipro veteran Srinivas Pallia has taken charge as CEO and managing director (MD).

Wipro’s 20-F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Delaporte earned about $3.9 million as salary and allowances, about $5 million as commission/variable pay, about $6.8 million classified as ‘others’, and $4.3 million as long-term compensation.

Wipro said it incurred severance-related costs of Rs 92.1 crore towards the outgoing CEO for FY24. It incurred total restructuring costs including employees’ severance-related costs of Rs 681.4 crore for FY24.

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Pallia will receive an annual remuneration package of about Rs 50 crore, making him one of the highest-paid CEOs in the Indian IT industry for FY25.

The filings also stated that Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji’s entitlement to a commission of 0.35 per cent on incremental consolidated net profit was held back as the company posted a loss in FY24.

Rishad Premji took a pay cut of around 20 per cent thereby reducing his FY24 compensation to $769,456 (around Rs 6.5 crore) from $951,353 (around Rs 7.9 crore) in the year-ago period. Consequently, his salary showed a decline to $692,641 (around Rs 5.8 crore) from last year’s $861,000 (around Rs 7.2 crore).

Delaporte’s high salary was at a time when Wipro’s IT revenues for full FY24 declined 3.8 per cent year-on-year to $10.8 billion. Wipro’s forecast for the first quarter of FY25 remains muted with revenue from its IT services business expected to be in the range of $2.62 billion to $2.68 billion. That translates to a sequential revenue growth of -1.5 per cent to +0.5 per cent in constant currency terms.

In comparison, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh received Rs 56 crore in the annual remuneration package while C Vijayakumar, CEO and MD of HCLTech, received Rs 28.4 crore during FY23. Tata Consultancy Services CEO and MD K Krithivasan drew about Rs 25.36 crore in annual compensation in FY24.

Delaporte’s compensation for the year ended March 31, 2024 includes the cost of accelerated vesting of 989,130 unvested stock options and cash compensation of $4.33 million.

This is “in recognition of Delaporte’s contributions in driving significant transformation and also to enable a smooth transition and adherence to post-engagement obligations such as confidentiality, non-solicitation, non-disparagement, and other obligations,” the company said in the filing.