TCS CEO’s pay hike; L Catterton’s India fund

IT major TCS paid Rs 26.5 crore in remuneration to CEO and MD K Krithivasan in FY25. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Also in the letter:
■ Unacademy founders’ AirLearn pivot
■ Myntra gets expansion capital
■ Google’s $100m offer to Neal Mohan

TCS paid CEO K Krithivasan Rs 26.5 crore in FY25

K Krithivasan, CEO, TCS

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) paid its chief executive, K Krithivasan, Rs 26.5 crore in the financial year 2025, marking a 4.6% increase from FY24, according to the company’s latest annual report.

Breakdown: Krithivasan’s total compensation rose from Rs 25.45 crore in the previous year, following his appointment as CEO and MD in 2023.

• Base salary: Rs 1.4 crore
• Benefits, allowance and prerequisites: Rs 2.13 crore.
• Commissions: Rs 23 crore.
• Pay ratio to the median employee remuneration: 329.8.

For employees:

• TCS awarded annual increments ranging from 4.5% to 7% for its workforce of six lakh employees.
• Top performers received double-digit increases.
• Factoring in promotions and other event-based compensation, total pay hikes varied between 5.5% and 7.5%.
• Employees based outside India received wage hikes between 1.5% and 6%.

Also Read: TCS rolls out full variable pay to 70% of workforce

AI ahead: Chairman N Chandrasekaran stated in the report that TCS aims to expand its workforce with a substantial number of AI agents alongside human employees.

“IT and business services are moving toward autonomous operations. The rise of autonomous robots and AI agents promises a future of ‘dark factories’ and AI-assisted enterprise functions,” he said in a letter to shareholders in TCS’ annual report.

Headcount: The report added that TCS’s headcount reached 607,979 in FY25, reflecting an increase of 6,433 individuals compared to FY24, following consecutive fiscal periods of workforce reductions.

Also Read: TCS Q4 net profit falls 1.7% to 12,224 crore on US uncertainties

L Catterton to raise $600 million for its first India-dedicated fund

Anjana Sasidharan, head of India investments and Sanjiv Mehta, executive chairman, L Catterton India

L Catterton, the LVMH-backed private equity firm, is raising $600 million for its inaugural India-focused fund, according to a disclosure by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Driving the news: The move could mark the first instance of a global private equity firm launching an investment vehicle specifically for the Indian market.

More details:

• IFC will invest $30 million in L Catterton India Fund-I, with an additional $30 million allocated for co-investment.
• Last March, former Hindustan Unilever chief executive Sanjiv Mehta partnered with L Catterton to establish this India-focused fund.
• Mehta, along with L Catterton’s head of India investments Anjana Sasidharan, will lead the India vehicle.

Tell me more:

• L Catterton aims to make seven to nine investments from the India-focused fund, with cheque sizes ranging from $25 million to $150 million.
• The fund will primarily focus on companies in the food and beverages, consumer services (including healthcare, retail, and restaurants), and consumer brands sectors, according to IFC.

Future outlook: L Catterton will enter a market already populated by consumer-focused investors, such as A91 Partners, alongside early-stage firms like Fireside Ventures and DSG Consumer Partners.

Last month, A91 Partners raised $665 million for its Fund III, making it the investor’s largest ever fund since it was launched in 2018.

Also Read: Scoop: Peak XV out to raise $1.2 billion fund, its first since Sequoia split

Unacademy founders’ shift to AirLearn, Jain’s offline role are strategic: Gaurav Munjal to employees

Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini, founders, Unacademy

Unacademy cofounder Gaurav Munjal wrote to employees on Wednesday clarifying that his increased involvement in the company’s new platform, AirLearn, alongside cofounder Roman Saini, and incoming CEO Sumit Jain’s focus on the offline business, are “strategic moves.”

Driving the news: The memo followed ET’s Wednesday newsbreak that Munjal and Saini plan to step back from their executive roles to focus on AirLearn.

In the internal email, Munjal stated that he and Saini are now devoting “substantial time and resources” to the language learning portal AirLearn, while Jain is “channelling efforts” to strengthen the offline business.

No worries: “I want to be clear – there’s no cause for concern. Unacademy is performing exceptionally well. We’ve successfully completed appraisals across the board, and our burn rate is significantly reduced. Our balance sheet remains robust and healthy,” Munjal wrote, looking to quell layoff concerns triggered by rumours.

Tell me more: AirLearn, which competes with Duolingo in the consumer-facing language learning space, has entered talks with potential investors. Some of Unacademy’s existing shareholders may participate. However, this development has rankled certain board members, who believe the company should focus more aggressively on addressing core business challenges.

Reality check: Once valued at $3.4 billion, Unacademy has come down from its pandemic-era highs. In FY24, it reported revenue of Rs 840 crore while trimming its losses to Rs 631 crore.

Also Read: Unacademy’s Airlearn hits 70,000 daily users, $2 million bookings run rate

Myntra receives Rs 1,063 crore cash infusion from Singapore-based parent entity

Nandita Sinha, CEO, Myntra

Online fashion retailer Myntra has secured a fresh capital infusion of Rs 1,063 crore from its parent entity, FK Myntra Holdings, amid its expansion into Singapore.

Driving the news: According to regulatory filings, Myntra Designs has allotted 19,43,753 equity shares to its Singapore-based parent at an issue price of Rs 5,465.23 each on a rights basis to raise this total amount.

Yes, and: Myntra’s parent Flipkart had infused $81 million in November 2024 and $338 million in March 2024 into the fashion etailer.

Expansion play: Myntra faces fierce competition in the crowded online fashion space from rivals like Amazon and the Chinese company Shein, which has returned to the Indian market after a five-year ban.

• On May 19, Myntra launched Myntra Global, offering local brands to the Indian diaspora in Singapore as part of its international expansion.
• Partner brands will export products from their inventory in India, with shipping times ranging from four to seven days.
• Additionally, the company is racing to enter the evolving quick delivery space in India, with M-Now.
• It is expanding beyond apparel to include accessories, home furnishings, and makeup.

Google paid Neal Mohan $100 million to stop him from joining Twitter

Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube

YouTube chief executive Neal Mohan’s recent appearance on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast has revived discussion around long-standing rumours that Google paid him $100 million a decade ago to prevent him from joining Twitter (now X).

What’s the news: During the podcast, Kamath said, “I remember reading this thing about Google offering you $100 million not to quit. Not today, but 15 years ago, which was a lot of money.” Mohan did not deny the claim.

Money matters: Mohan played a pivotal role in Google’s advertising and YouTube’s product teams in 2011. Reports indicated that he was offered $100 million in restricted stock units, set to vest over several years.

This offer was made when Twitter was attempting to recruit him as chief product officer, led by David Rosenblatt, a board member of the microblogging site now known as X. He was Mohan’s former colleague.

Trying their luck: It was reported that Twitter also attempted to poach Sundar Pichai, who was then leading Chrome and Chrome OS at Google. The search giant retained him with a $50 million stock grant.

Also Read: Who is Vaibhav Taneja? The Tesla CFO who out-earned Pichai and Nadella

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