New Delhi: Thierry Delaporte, the former CEO and managing director of Wipro, earned over $20 million (approximately Rs 166 crore) in FY24, making him the highest-paid CEO in the Indian IT sector for the second consecutive year. Wipro reported incurring severance-related expenses of Rs 92.1 crore for the departing CEO in FY24. Delaporte stepped down on April 6, with Srinivas Pallia, a Wipro veteran of 32 years, succeeding him.
According to Wipro’s 20-F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Delaporte’s earnings for FY24 included over $3.9 million in salary and allowances, more than $5 million in commission/variable pay, nearly $7 million categorized as others, and over $4 million in long-term compensation. Additionally, severance costs for Delaporte amounted to Rs 92.1 crore.
Srinivas Pallia, Delaporte’s successor, will receive an annual compensation package of approximately Rs 50 crore, positioning him as the second-highest paid CEO in the Indian IT industry for FY25. This comes at a time when Wipro’s revenue has been on the decline, highlighting the increasing pay disparity between CEOs and entry-level employees.
Meanwhile, Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji was entitled to a commission of 0.35 percent on the incremental consolidated net profit, but this was withheld due to the company’s loss for the fiscal year. Wipro’s revenue for FY24 decreased year-on-year to Rs 89,760 crore from Rs 90,486 crore.
For FY24, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh received an annual compensation package of Rs 56 crore. HCLTech’s C Vijayakumar earned Rs 28.4 crore in FY22-23, making him the third highest-paid CEO in the sector. Debashis Chatterjee of LTIMindtree, who took over after the merger of L&T and Mindtree in November 2022, received Rs 17.5 crore in FY22-23. Tech Mahindra’s CEO Mohit Joshi is set to receive Rs 6.5 crore in fixed compensation and an equal amount in variable pay annually. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO and MD K Krithivasan earned Rs 25.36 crore in FY24, the lowest among CEOs of large IT firms.
Delaporte’s total compensation for FY24 also included costs associated with the accelerated vesting of 989,130 unvested stock options and cash compensation amounting to $4.33 million. Wipro stated that this was in recognition of Delaporte’s significant contributions to the company’s transformation, and to ensure a smooth transition while adhering to post-engagement obligations such as confidentiality and non-solicitation.
