Meet The Techie Who Is India's Highest-Paid IT CEO: His Staggering Salary Will Blow Your Mind

This significant increase, revealed in the HCLTech annual report 2023-2024, marks a 190.75 percent rise in his year-on-year remuneration.

By TVN Bureau Jul 25, 2024, 09:25 IST

HCL Technologies CEO C Vijayakumar received a total compensation of approximately $10.06 million (around ₹ 84.16 crore) for the fiscal year 2023-24, making him the highest-paid CEO among Indian IT services companies for the year. This significant increase, revealed in the HCLTech annual report 2023-2024, marks a 190.75 percent rise in his year-on-year remuneration.

Breakdown of Vijayakumar's Salary Package

Mr. Vijayakumar's salary package included:

A base salary of around $1.96 million (₹ 16.39 crore)
A performance-linked bonus of $1.14 million (₹ 9.53 crore)
A long-term incentive (LTI) cash component of about $2.36 million (₹ 19.74 crore)

Additionally, he received $4.56 million (₹ 38.15 crore) in LTI perquisite value of restricted stock units (RSUs) exercised, and $0.04 million in benefits, perquisites, and allowances.

Comparison with Other CEOs

In terms of base salary, Mr. Vijayakumar outpaced his peers in the Indian IT industry. Infosys CEO Salil Parekh earned around ₹ 66 crore, Wipro’s new CEO Srini Pallia received about ₹ 50 crore, and TCS CEO K Krithivasan earned around ₹ 25 crore. Mr. Vijayakumar’s remuneration was 707.46 times the median salary of HCLTech employees, who saw a median salary increase of 7.07 percent for the year.

Company Performance and Future Outlook

In his letter to shareholders, Mr. Vijayakumar highlighted the company’s performance, noting, “We closed the year with revenue of $13.3 billion, up 5.4 percent YoY, and an EBIT margin of 18.2 percent.” HCLTech achieved the highest revenue growth rate among tier 1 global IT services companies. He also mentioned the emergence of "green shoots" in specific areas and anticipates a stable demand environment with opportunities for growth in emerging technologies such as GenAI, cloud, data, and cybersecurity.

Strategic Positioning and Initiatives

HCLTech is strategically positioned to capitalize on market opportunities with its diverse portfolio across digital, engineering, cloud, AI, and software. The company has delivered over 200 proofs of concept in generative AI and plans to train more than 50,000 employees in FY25 in GenAI and related capabilities.

Financial Performance of Top Indian IT Companies

Among the top four Indian IT companies, TCS led with the highest revenue for FY24 at ₹ 2,40,893 crore, followed by Infosys with ₹ 1,53,670 crore, HCLTech with ₹ 1,09,913 crore, and Wipro with ₹ 89,794 crore.

Mr. Vijayakumar’s substantial remuneration reflects his leadership in steering HCLTech to achieve significant growth and maintain its competitive edge in the global IT services industry.