The latest report reveals that the HCL Technologies chief executive officer & managing director C Vijayakumar will soon become one of the highest-paid IT CEOs.
HCL’s Vijayakumar – The Highest-Paid IT CEO
He will get $31.5 million in stock options over five years in addition to an annual compensation of $4.38 million in salary, performance incentives and other benefits.
Thus he would be the highest-paid IT CEO in the coming days.
According to the FY21 annual report, Vijayakumar earned $4.13 million (Rs 30.60 crore) for the year ended March 2021, which is 74 percent down from the previous year.
Basically, Vijayakumar will be eligible for long-term incentives (LTI), being the CEO & MD.
So, this package includes stock options and restricted stock options, to the tune of about $31.5 million for the financial years ending March 2022 till March 2026.
The report mentions, “The parameters and other conditions including the intervals, milestones, tranches to receive the LTI shall be decided by the Board or the NRC which shall be for the financial years ending March 31, 2022, till March 31, 2026. The aggregate LTI for these financial years shall be $ 31,500,000,”.
Further added, “Within the aforesaid limit of US $ 31,500,000, the CEO & MD may be granted Stock Options / RSUs in terms of the Company’s Stock Option Plan(s) that may be formulated from time to time, and if the Stock Options / RSUs are so granted, the LTI to the extent of the value of Stock Options / RSUs, as determined by the Board, shall stand reduced.”
It is noteworthy here that these benefits are in addition to the base salary of $2 million and performance-linked incentives of up to $2 million each, as per the report.
In simple words, this is in addition to the perquisites and other benefits amounting to $384,000 per annum.
Although Vijayakumar’s salary came down in the quarter, it is more likely to be one of the largest paid IT CEOs in coming quarters.
Wipro Has The Highest Paid CEO
But Vijayakumar is not the ace earner as his counterpart in Wipro was the highest paid in FY21.
Coming to Wipro, its CEO & MD Thierry Delaporte drew Rs 64 crore ($8.8 million) for FY21, hence making him the highest-paid CEO in IT for FY21.
Delaporte took charge as the CEO in July 2020. His compensation included a salary of Rs 9.6 crore, commission of Rs 11.2 crore, Rs 5.5 crore as long-term compensation and Rs 37.81 crore as other income, as per the regulatory filing.
While announcing him as CEO & MD, he was offered an annual package of Rs 37.9 crore (4.45 million euros), stock compensation and other benefits.