NR Narayana Murthy says he used to reach on the office at 6:20 am and leave at 8:30 pm. He worked 14 hours a day, six and a half days per week for 30 years until he retired in 2011 on the age of 65.
Murthy is the one 78 years old Co-founder of Infosys, an Indian technology company with offices in 56 countriesincluding the United States. The company offers IT, consulting and outsourcing services and employs greater than 317,000 people worldwide.
Murthy went viral last yr for saying that young people in India should work 70 hours per week, although they do breaks Indian Labor Laws. Then, um CNBC’s Global Leadership Summit Earlier this month, Murthy refused to back down from his earlier statement, saying: “I don’t believe in work-life balance.”
He added that he was “a little disappointed” in 1986 when India shortened the working week from six to 5 days per week.
“I wasn’t very happy with it,” he said. He then addressed the 70-hour workweek controversy, stating: “I’m sorry, I haven’t changed my mind.”
“I don’t believe in work-life balance,” says Infosys’ Narayana Murthy while defending his infamous “70-hour work week” comment while talking to Shereen Bhan at CNBC TV18’s Global Leadership Summit#CNBCTV18GLS #CNBCTV18at25 #cnbctv18digital @ShereenBhan pic.twitter.com/Hcrej8DUkw
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) November 14, 2024
He added that he was “very proud” of working 14-hour days within the office, or 6.5 days per week.
“That’s why I won’t take it back,” Murthy said, referring to his statement on the 70-hour work week.
Murthy began Infosys in 1981 with six other co-founders and seed capital of $250.
Infosys became the First Registered in India, the corporate was listed on NASDAQ in 1999 and now has a market capitalization of over 92 billion dollars.
Infosys brought in over $18 billion Sales within the 2024 financial yr.
Related: The Case for 14-Hour Workdays – Why New Entrepreneurs Should Embrace the Hustle Before Striving for Work-Life Balance