NR Narayana Murthy says he used to arrive at the office at 6:20 am and leave at 8:30 pm He worked 14 hours a day, six and a half days a week for 30 years. until he retired in 2011 at the age of 65.
Murthy is the 78-year-old founder of Infosys, an Indian technology company with offices in 56 countries, including the United States. The company provides IT, consulting services, and recruitment services and employs more than 317,000 people worldwide.
Murthy went viral last year when he said young people in India should work 70 hours a week, even though doing so violates India’s labor laws. Then, at 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 reduced the work week from six days a week to five.
“I wasn’t too happy about that,” he said. He then addressed the 70-hour work week controversy and said, “I’m sorry, I haven’t changed my mind.”
“I don’t believe in work-life balance,” Infosys’ Narayana Murthy said as he defended his infamous ’70-hour work week’ comment while speaking 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 is “very proud” of putting in 14-hour days at the office, 6.5 days a week.
“So I’m not going to take it back,” Murthy said, referring to his 70-hour week statement.
Murthy started Infosys in 1981 with six other co-founders and $250 in seed money.
Infosys became the first listed company in India to be listed on NASDAQ in 1999 and now has a market capitalization of over $92 billion.
Infosys has generated revenue of more than 18 billion rupees in the financial year 2024.
Related: The Case for 14-Hour Work Days – Why New Entrepreneurs Should Embrace the Hustle Before Seeking Work-Life Balance
