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Narayana Murthy gifting grandson Infosys shares worth ₹240 crore sparks ‘70-hour work week’ memes, jokes
After NR Narayana Murthy gifted 15 lakh Infosys shares to his grandson, the software leader's shares in the company reduced from 0.40 per cent to 0.36 per cent.
Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy's decision to gift his four-month-old grandson Infosys shares worth ₹240 crore has ignited a flurry of reactions on the Internet, particularly bringing back banter surrounding the controversial “70-hour work week” statement that he had made last year.
Read| How corporate bigwigs reacted to Narayana Murthy's 70-hour work week remark
The software icon has gifted shares worth over ₹240 crore to Ekagrah, Rohan Murty and Aparna Krishnan’s son born last November.
The infant, thus, owns 15,00,000 shares, or 0.04 per cent stake, in Infosys, which was conducted off-market.
Here’s what this X user posted.
An individual named Abid Hassan thinks this will end the culture where influencers claim to be ‘India’s youngest millionaires’. He tweeted, “Extremely glad that Narayana Murthy ji has gifted 250 crores to his infant grandkid.” He added, “This puts an end to all these hustle influencer frauds coming on magazine covers claiming to be India’s youngest millionaires….”
Another wondered if Murthy was spoiling his grandson at such a young age.
This X user joked that it is the first time that the company offered such a huge package to a fresher.
Ekagrah is the third grandchild of the Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty. They are grandparents to two daughters of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty.
Also Read| Narayana Murthy's ‘70-hour work week’ advice for youngsters divides Internet
70-hour work week debate
The Infosys co-founder sparked a discussion on work-life balance when he made a suggestion on the country’s work productivity on a podcast with Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai. Murthy stressed that youth should work for at least 70 hours a week to boost the country’s work productivity. This, in his opinion, is needed for the country to remain competitive with nations like China and Japan.
During the conversation with Mohandas Pai, he said, “If we want to compete with the fastest growing countries like China and Japan, we need to boost up our work productivity. At the moment, India’s work productivity is very low. The government also must reduce the time it takes for decision-making and curb corruption in bureaucracy.”
“Our youngsters need to work for at least 70 hours a week,” he added.
