NAGAVARA RAMARAO NARAYANAMURTHY, 54
Chairman and CEO, Infosys Technologies
Born: August 20, 1946, in Siddlaghatta in District Kolar, Karnataka
Education: Engineering degree from nie, Mysore; masters degree from iit, Kanpur
Family background: Schoolteacher father's monthly salary of Rs 170 didn't suffice for Murthy to go to iit for his bachelor's degree
Business background: At 35, borrowed wife Sudha's savings and built Infosys from scratch with six other partners with start-up capital of Rs 10,000
Holding in the company: Holds 7.7 per cent of the company's stake. Personal net worth estimated at over Rs 2,500 crore. Annual salary for 1999-2000: Rs 14,60,288 (Rs 1,21,690 per month) plus annual performance incentive of Rs 1,62,300.
Passion: Western classical music - Bach, Beethoven, Chopin. Has a collection of at least 2,000 CDs.
Lifestyle: Lives in a three-bedroom house in the very middle-class locality of Jayanagar in Bangalore. Does not employ any domestic help. Personal car: Opel Astra.
Family: Wife Sudha (in her wedding picture, right), an engineering graduate, heads the Infosys Foundation. Has one son and a daughter, Akshatha, studying in the US.
Most famous anecdote: Went to see Jurassic Park at Bangalore's Galaxy cinema with his secretary and sat in the stalls because the balcony tickets were sold out
Employee's welfare: A third of Infosys staff (1,800) are rupee millionaires; number of rupee billionaires: 100.
Achievement of the company: Infosys assessed at the much-coveted Level 5 under the Capability Maturity Model (cmm) developed by the Software Engineering Institute (sei) of Carnegie Mellon University. Fifth best managed company in Asia according to Asia Money magazine. Market capitalisation: Rs 51,290 crore.
Most admired personalities: Mahatma Gandhi and former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew
AZIM HASHAM PREMJI, 55
Chairman, Wipro Corporation
Born: July 24,1945, in Bombay, Maharashtra
Education: Abandoned engineering studies four quarters short of graduation at Stanford University in the US
Family background: Grandfather was a rich rice exporter. Father was chairman of Bombay State Electricity Board and a member on boards of rbi, sbi and lic. He was offered a ministership by Jinnah in Pakistan.
Business background: At 21, inherited Rs 7-crore worth Western India Vegetable Products company. The Amalner-based vanaspati manufacturing company later became Wipro Products, Wipro Ltd and Wipro Corp.
Holdings in the company: Holds 75 per cent of the stake. Notional value of net worth estimated at Rs 1,28,672 crore at Wipro's peak share price of Rs 9,600. Annual salary: Rs 21,00,000 (Rs 1,75,000 per month). Richest Indian, according to Forbes magazine.
Passion: Hiking, reading management books
Lifestyle: Regularly works 90 hours-a-week. Drives to work in his Ford Escort and often jogs up to his 10th-floor office to stay in shape.
Family: Wife Yasmeen heads the Hasham Foundation. Elder son Rishad is a finance trainee with General Electric. Younger son Tariq studies at a Bangalore college.
Most famous anecdote: Arrived one evening at Bangalore airport, where there wasn't a car waiting for him. So hailed an autorickshaw and reached office.
Employee's welfare: Three office-bearers worth more than Rs 100 crore, one of whom has since left to launch his own company. Number of shareholders who are billionaires: 32.
Achievement of the company: First company in India to get sei-cmm Level 5 rating. Level 6 implies 3.4 mistakes in a million opportunities. Market capitalisation: Rs 55,176 crore
Company buzzword: Applying Thought.
Most admired personalities: GE chairman Jack Welch, Michael Dell of Dell Computers and Mahatma Gandhi
