Narayana Murthy once wanted to work at Wipro. Why did Azim Premji turn him down? Here’s the story
Long before Infosys and Wipro became two of India's biggest IT companies, their founders, NR Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji, had an unexpected encounter that could have changed the course of India's technology industry. Murthy once applied for a job at Wipro, but Azim Premji turned him down. Years later, the Wipro founder reportedly described the decision as one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
Narayana Murthy himself recalled the episode in a 2024 interview with CNBC-TV18, saying Premji had subsequently acknowledged that he should have hired him.
"Azim once told me that one of the biggest mistakes he committed was not to hire me," Murthy said.
In retrospect, had Wipro hired Murthy, the company might have gained a future technology entrepreneur, while the story of Infosys could have taken a very different turn.
The encounter between the two business leaders dates back to 1979, when Murthy was considering a move from Patni Computer Systems and approached Wipro for a job.
In a 2006 interview with The Economic Times, Premji offered an explanation for why he did not hire Murthy. He said Wipro had found him "too high powered" for the company at the time. Premji also admitted that he might have felt personally threatened by Murthy's capabilities.
Wipro was still a relatively small player in the technology business, having entered the IT sector with an investment of just ₹15 lakh. Premji suggested that the company was not ready to bring someone of Murthy's calibre on board.
Interestingly, Premji did not formally turn down Murthy's application. He simply never got back to him.
Murthy recalled the episode with humour, saying: "No he didn't say no, he didn't call me back, that's all."
Years later, Premji acknowledged the missed opportunity, telling Murthy that not hiring him had been one of the biggest mistakes he had made.
Narayana Murthy did not begin his entrepreneurial journey with Infosys. Born on August 20, 1946, in Karnataka, he graduated in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Engineering in 1967 before pursuing a master's degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
His early career included a stint as a research associate at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He subsequently worked as chief systems programmer, where he helped develop India's first BASIC interpreter for the TDC 312 computer manufactured by Electronics Corporation of India Limited.
Before founding Infosys, Narayana Murthy also tried his hand at entrepreneurship with an IT venture called Softronics. The business did not succeed, prompting him to join Patni Computer Systems in Pune.
His defining entrepreneurial break came in 1981, when he joined six colleagues to establish Infosys. His wife, Sudha Murty, provided the initial capital of ₹10,000, helping the founders get the company off the ground.
Sudha Murty's contribution went beyond providing the seed money. She encouraged her husband to concentrate on export markets.
However, despite being an engineer herself, Sudha Murty was not initially encouraged to join the company.
Looking back during his conversation with CNBC-TV18, Narayana Murthy admitted that he had been "wrongly idealistic" in opposing Sudha Murty's involvement. He acknowledged that she was "more qualified than all seven of us".
While Narayana Murthy built Infosys from the ground up, Azim Premji inherited his family's vegetable oil business at the age of 21. He subsequently transformed Wipro into a major technology services, software and consulting company.
Narayana Murthy also clarified that he had no management role in Infosys after Nandan Nilekani returned as chairman in August 2017, describing himself as a shareholder rather than someone involved in the company's decisions.
Narayana Murthy served as Infosys chief executive from 1981 to 2002 and subsequently held several leadership positions, including chairman and chief mentor. He retired in 2011 but briefly returned as executive chairman when the company was facing difficulties.
Infosys was listed on Indian stock exchanges on February 8, 1995, with Wipro making its stock market debut eight months later.
More than three decades on, Infosys commands a considerably higher market valuation than its rival. As of November 5, 2026, Infosys had a market capitalisation of approximately ₹4.7 lakh crore, compared with around ₹1.95 lakh crore for Wipro.
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