Wipro’s Premji, Kurien Get Hefty Salary Hike

Bangalore-based IT firm Wipro Ltd’s chairman Azim Premji and CEO TK Kurien received hefty raises in spite of the company lagging in growth during FY 2013-14.

According to the former IT bellwether’s regulatory filling made on May 19 to the US Security and Exchange Commission, billionaire chairman Azim Premji's annual compensation, which includes salary and benefits, more than doubled to $1.71 million in fiscal 2012-2013, up from $733,827 in fiscal 2012-2013.

Premji's pay doubled mainly on account of a boost in variable pay component. He also received an additional 0.3% commission, calculated on the firm's incremental net profits over the previous year.

Wipro CEO TK Kurien's salary for the first time crossed the million-dollar mark. His compensation grew to $1.1 million by the end of March this year, from $888,228 in fiscal year 2012-2013.

This reward to Kurien, who took over the job in 2011, is also a sign that the IT company continued to back his turnaround plans.

The reward given to Kurien comes days after Infosys gave a good compensation to president BG Srinivas with a pay package of $1.28 million. Srinivas is widely seen as a top contender to become the company CEO after SD Shibulal expressed his desire to step down in March 2015.

The annual salaries of Premji and Kurien, however, do not include their dividend earnings from shareholding in Wipro.