Vishal Sikka will remain with Infosys as executive vice-chairman, the company said.

Edited by Surajit Dasgupta

Vishal Sikka has resigned as managing director and CEO of Infosys and the company’s board has accepted his resignation with immediate effect, the IT major said on Friday morning. The sudden move came amid growing acrimony between the company’s board and its founders led by NR Narayana Murthy. Infosys said chief operating officer UB Pravin Rao will be interim managing director and CEO. Infosys shares plunged as much as 9.4 per cent today after the announcement.

Dr Sikka, 50, has cited “increasingly personal attacks” on him as one of the reasons for his sudden decision to resign, saying they were “amplified” by people who should have supported him. He said the attacks had hit morale at the company, which has been trying to keep pace with rapid changes in the industry.

“For days, indeed weeks, this decision has weighed on me. I have wrestled the pros and cons, the issues and the counterbalancing arguments. But now, after much thought, and considering the environment of the last few quarters, I am clear in my decision. It is clear to me that despite our successes over the last three years, and the powerful seeds of innovation that we have sown, I cannot carry out my job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks,” Dr Sikka, who took over three years ago, wrote on his blog.

Moving on…https://t.co/U3CJrtdz5c

— Vishal Sikka (@vsikka) August 18, 2017

Infosys founders, including NR Narayana Murthy, have in recent months criticised the company’s leadership over executive pay packages and for what they called lapses in corporate governance, which Dr Sikka has stoutly denied. In an email to some of his advisers last week, Mr Murthy had reportedly said that he had been told by at least three independent directors of the company that Vishal Sikka was less CEO material and more chief technology officer (CTO) material. He also criticised the Infosys board for not upholding governance standards and for not creating checks and balances required in any well-run company, the newspaper Mint had reported.

The newspaper also quoted Mr Murthy as saying in the email, “I have nothing against Dr Vishal Sikka. I enjoy spending time with him. I have never commented about his strategy or its execution.”

Earlier this year Dr Sikka had described Mr Murthy as an “incredible man” and said they enjoy a “heartfelt, warm relationship.” He told NDTV last month when asked about differences with the founders, “I think there is a matter with the Board and I think you really have to bring that up with board. Our job and management is to run this great company, this iconic company…The founders have built this company and I am a custodian of this. My primary job is to stay focused on my job.”

“In his notice of resignation to the board, Dr Sikka reiterated his belief in the great potential of Infosys, but cited among his reasons for leaving a continuous stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters, increasingly personal and negative as of late, as preventing management’s ability to accelerate the company’s transformation,” Infosys said in its statement today, adding that “the board understands and acknowledges Dr Sikka’s reasons for resignation, and regrets his decision. In particular, the board is profoundly distressed by the unfounded personal attacks on the members of our management team that were made in the anonymous letters and have surfaced in recent months.”

Dr Sikka will remain with Infosys as executive vice-chairman, the company said and will hold office until the new permanent chief executive officer and managing director takes charge, which should be no later than March 31, 2018. He will receive an annual salary of $1 during his tenure as executive vice chairman.