Wipro CEO Srinivas Pallia sold all his shares in IT giant for Rs 5 crore weeks before taking charge

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Srinivas Pallia, a long-time employee of Wipro, sold all his shares in the company worth Rs 5 crore just a month and a half before being appointed as the new CEO of the IT giant. The transaction, which took place on February 14, was reported to the exchange the following day. Pallia disposed of his 1,00,000 Wipro shares through “market sale”. After the sale, Pallia held no securities in Wipro.
The company declined to comment on the matter, citing a silent period ahead of its quarterly and annual results announcement. On April 6, Wipro announced the unexpected resignation of CEO Thierry Delaporte, 15 months before the end of his five-year term. Pallia was immediately promoted to the top position.
Concerns had been raised about Wipro’s lackluster revenue performance, which had made it a laggard compared to its large-cap Indian IT peers in FY23-24. The company also faced significant senior leadership attrition over the past two years, with about one and a half dozen exits during Delaporte’s tenure as he pursued his “transformation agenda.”
Also Read | Who is Srini Pallia, Wipro’s new CEO & MD? All you want to know about him
Pallia, who is based in New Jersey and reports to chairman Rishad Premji, joined Wipro in 1992 and previously served as the head of Americas 1, the company’s largest and fastest-growing strategic market.
Wipro shares have seen a rally of close to 27% in the last one year. On Monday, they ended 2.47% lower at Rs 459.25 on the BSE.
Outsourcing expert Pareekh Jain commented on the timing of Pallia’s share sale, “The timing of Pallia’s share sale is interesting. So, either he needed money or was he thinking of joining the ranks of many of his former colleagues by quitting and therefore, Wipro’s board was compelled to fast forward the CEO transition process by a year in advance?”
As the new CEO, Pallia will have a new contract with the company, and his compensation will be structured accordingly. Senior leaders in IT companies typically have a salary structure that includes a base salary, allowances, bonuses or incentives, variables, and stock units such as performance stock units, restricted stock units, and ESOPs.



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