Bengaluru: Infosys Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh earned Rs 82.6 crore in total compensation during FY26, marking a modest increase from Rs 80.6 crore in the previous financial year. The rise was primarily driven by gains from stock-based incentives as the IT services giant achieved significant financial milestones, including crossing the $20 billion annual revenue mark.
According to the company’s latest annual report, equity-linked rewards continued to form the largest component of the CEO’s remuneration package, reflecting a growing trend among global technology firms to tie executive compensation to long-term performance and shareholder value creation.
Stock options drive compensation growth
The biggest contributor to Parekh’s FY26 earnings was the value realised from exercised Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).
During the financial year, he received Rs 50.75 crore in perquisites arising from exercised stock options, slightly higher than the Rs 49.5 crore recorded in FY25.
In addition to stock-option gains, Parekh received a fixed annual salary of Rs 8.5 crore. Performance-linked incentives and variable compensation contributed another Rs 23.35 crore to his overall earnings.
The combination of salary, bonuses and stock-based rewards pushed his total compensation to Rs 82.6 crore for the year.
Details of RSU exercises
The annual report disclosed that Parekh exercised a substantial number of stock awards during FY26.
He exercised 2,72,400 Restricted Stock Units under Infosys’ 2015 stock incentive plan and another 64,690 RSUs under the company’s 2019 stock compensation scheme.
These equity-linked incentives are designed to align executive interests with long-term company performance and shareholder returns.
The value generated from these exercised stock units accounted for more than half of Parekh’s total compensation during the year.
Fresh stock grants awarded
Apart from exercised RSUs, Infosys also granted fresh stock-based incentives to its CEO during FY26.
The new awards include performance-linked RSUs tied to key financial objectives, environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics, and total shareholder return benchmarks.
The company also awarded annual time-based RSUs and additional performance-linked stock incentives under its 2019 compensation framework.
Such incentives are intended to encourage long-term strategic execution and sustainable business growth.
Pay ratio highlights executive compensation gap
Infosys’ annual report also highlighted the gap between executive and employee compensation levels.
The company disclosed that Parekh’s total remuneration, including exercised stock options, was 742 times the median salary of Infosys employees during FY26.
Without including stock-option gains, the ratio stood at 289 times the median employee salary.
The disclosure comes at a time when Infosys has not yet announced salary revisions for employees for FY27.
Chief Financial Officer Jayesh Sanghrajka recently stated that the company is evaluating the timing and scale of wage hikes amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties affecting the technology sector.
Infosys crosses major financial milestones
The increase in executive compensation coincided with a strong year for Infosys.
The company crossed the $20 billion annual revenue milestone during FY26 and delivered adjusted operating margins of 21 per cent.
In his letter to shareholders, Parekh highlighted that Infosys returned more than $4 billion to investors through dividends and share buyback programmes during the year.
The performance reinforced Infosys’ position among the leading global IT services companies.
AI emerges as key growth driver
Parekh emphasised the growing importance of artificial intelligence in the company’s future growth strategy.
Infosys said AI-led transformation initiatives have now been implemented across 90 per cent of its top 200 clients.
The company continues to expand the deployment of its AI platform, Infosys Topaz, to help enterprises improve productivity and accelerate digital transformation.
“We are harnessing the power of our industry-leading AI Suite, Infosys Topaz, to help enterprises accelerate growth and productivity from AI,” Parekh said in the annual report.
Workforce expansion continues
Despite challenging market conditions, Infosys continued investing in talent during FY26.
The company hired more than 20,000 college graduates over the course of the year and expanded its global workforce.
Infosys ended FY26 with a total employee base exceeding 3.25 lakh professionals worldwide, reflecting its continued commitment to growth and capability building.
Conclusion
Salil Parekh’s compensation crossed Rs 82 crore in FY26 primarily due to gains from exercised stock options, underscoring the increasing role of equity-linked incentives in executive pay. The rise came during a landmark year for Infosys, which crossed $20 billion in annual revenue, strengthened its AI capabilities and continued expanding its global workforce.