Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte Resigns Amidst Poor Quarters
Thierry Delaporte resigned in the midst of Wipro’s poor quarters relative to its competitors. In addition, a number of high-level departures occurred, despite Delaporte’s hiring of additional Capgemini leaders.
Wipro announced to the exchanges on April 6 that Thierry Delaporte, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer, had resigned. The software major announced that Srinivas Pallia has been named the company’s MD and CEO.
He takes over for Thierry Delaporte, who is leaving Wipro after leading a dramatic change there for the past four years in order to follow interests outside of work.
Pallia is a seasoned Wipro employee who has worked for the Azim Premji-promoted company for more than three decades, in contrast to Thierry, who was recruited in from Capgemini to run Wipro four years ago.
Having worked at Wipro for more than thirty years, Pallia most recently held the position of CEO for Americas 1, which is Wipro’s largest and fastest-growing strategic region. In this capacity, he controlled a variety of industry sectors, defined their goals, and put growth plans into action, which raised these sectors’ market shares. Pallia is a part of the executive board of Wipro.
Thierry resigned in the midst of Wipro’s poor quarters relative to its competitors. In addition, a number of high-level departures occurred, despite Delaporte’s hiring of additional Capgemini leaders.
Chairman Rishad Premji emphasized that Thierry had his faith despite queries from shareholders and investors over its performance. In response to questions about whether the board supports the existing administration, Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji told Moneycontrol on January 18 that Delaporte had the full support of the board.
In his letter of retirement, Delaporte expressed his gratitude for being a part of Wipro’s expansion and success, calling it a “incredible honour”. “In the years I have served as CEO and MD, we have seen a tremendous change within
the business that has benefited our associates, clients, and shareholders in addition to generating financial growth,” Delaporte was cited in the press statement.
More than ten senior executives left the firm in 2023 alone, including Americas 2 CFO Nithin V. Jaganmohan, Chief Operations Officer Sanjeev Singh, Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal, and Chief Growth Officer Stephanie Trautman.
Pallia’s client-centric approach, growth attitude, strong execution focus, and dedication to Wipro’s principles, according to Premji, make him the ideal candidate for the position.
“Thierry is a great leader at Wipro, and for that I am grateful. We are in a better position going forward thanks to the adjustments he made,” Premji stated.
Premji also mentioned that Delaporte will stay on until the end of May, closely collaborating with both Pallia and him to guarantee a seamless handoff.
At Rs 2,694 crore, the company’s profit for the third quarter of FY24 declined 12 percent YoY, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of declines in profitability.
Additionally, the Bengaluru-based company revised both the lower and upper ends of its revenue growth outlook for the fourth quarter. It revised its forecast for revenue growth from -1.5 percent to 0.5 percent. This comes after the business cut its prior quarter’s projection to -3.5 percent from -1.5 percent.
