Wipro To Offer Up To Rs 40 Cr In Annual Salary To Its CEO Designate

IT services major Wipro’s CEO designate Thierry Delaporte can potentially earn up to Rs 40 crore per annum, making him one of the highest paid chief executives among top Indian IT firms.

This pay package would be around 34 per cent higher than the total compensation that Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala received in FY20. It also brings Wipro CEO’s salary at 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 million to Euro 1.4 million per annum, which translates into around Rs 12 crore on the upper band.

ALSO READ: Cadila Healthcare's Q4 PBT falls 14% to Rs 522 cr, total income rises 0.66%

A French national, who will operate out of Paris, will receive an expatriate allowance in the range of Euro 0.43 million to Euro 0.55 million (Rs 3.65 crore - Rs 4.67 crore). He will also have a variable pay in the range of Euro 1.7 million – Euro 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 from July 6 this year.

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.

ALSO READ: No one entered our territory, not an inch of land lost, says PM Modi

Delaporte will also be granted an annual stock 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) which 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 specify 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 of resignation of the CEO, he has to serve 6-month notice period, it added.

ALSO READ: Why was Vijay Mallya's review plea not listed for 3 yrs: SC asks registry

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 firm who are drawing such compensation. Infosys' chief executive officer 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.