Thierry Delaporte, who became Wipro Ltd’s chief executive officer (CEO) on 6 July 2020, earned $8.8 million (Rs 64.24 crore) in compensation in the financial year 2021, regulatory filings showed, more than what CEOs earned at rival information technology companies (IT) companies Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Infosys Ltd.

A one-time cash award and stock grants enhanced Delaporte’s earnings for the year, after he took charge amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, according to the firm’s statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It is worth noting that Delaporte joined Wipro from French IT company Capgemini where he was the chief operating officer (COO) and a member of its group executive board. As COO of Capgemini, he was paid about $4.9 million in 2019, which included $1.9 million in fixed and variables and the rest through share grants. Delaporte’s predecessor Abidali Neemuchwala in Wipro was paid $4.4 million (Rs 34 crore) in 2019.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh’s total pay package stood at Rs 49.68 crore (about $6.78 million), while TCS is India's biggest software exporter, CEO Rajesh Gopinathan's total compensation was at Rs 20.3 crore (approximately $2.8 million), as per the companies latest annual reports. Conversion to dollars is as per the conversion rate on March 31, 2021.

However, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji’s compensation for FY21 soared 136 per cent to $1.62 million compared to the previous fiscal. It also included a cash bonus (part of his allowances) on an accrual basis, which is payable over a period of time.

The rise in Premji’s remuneration is because of his foregoing profit-linked commission for 2019-20 to show “solidarity” with the company’s team in facing the challenges of coronavirus infections and amid business uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision led to the compensation of Premji falling to $683,496 during the year, a sharp fall of around 31 per cent over the previous fiscal. In March 2020, India announced a countrywide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, months after the virus began spreading in China.

“The compensation disclosed for Mr Thierry Delaporte is for the period from July 6, 2020 to March 31, 2021. It includes components such as a one-time cash award, annual stock grant and one-time grant of RSUs (restricted stock units), among other things, as per the terms approved by the shareholders at the annual general meeting of the shareholders in July 2020,” Wipro mentioned in its SEC filing.

Delaporte drew a salary of about $1.31 million, while his earnings from commissions and variable pay was approximately $1.54 million. His pay under the ‘other’ section stood at around $5.18 million for the year.

Wipro posted a 27.8 per cent growth in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021. Net profits of the IT services company rose to Rs 2,972 crore from Rs 2,326 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.