Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar’s package stood at ₹137 crore — How does it compare with pay of other IT chiefs? | Company Business News

₹137 crore: that was the targeted pay package for Cognizant‘s CEO in FY24. However, according to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC), Ravi Kumar S earned ₹70 crore.

We take a look at why the realised pay was lower than targeted, the breakdown of his pay package components, and how his salary compares to other chiefs of Indian information technology companies including Infosys, TCS and Wipro.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar’s Pay Package — Details

According to the company filing, Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar‘s annual pay for FY24 rose to more than ₹70 crore ($8.2 million), up 14 per cent from the previous year’s salary, as per a Times of India (TOI) report.

It, however, noted that the realised compensation was lower than the target compensation of ₹137 crore ($16.1 million) for 2024.

Components breakdown of the ₹137 crore pay package:

CEO vs Employees: Disparity in Cognizant Pay Ratio

According to a report by NDTV, the ratio of Cognizant’s CEO-to-median employee pay in 2024, was at 378:1. The filing showed that Kumar earned 378x more than an average employee in his company.

Till December 2024, Cognizant had around 3,36,800 global employees, including 2,41,500 in India and another 42,800 in North America.

CEO vs CEOs: Compare Ravi Kumar Salary to Other IT Chiefs?

According to the filing, while Kumar’s pay package was ₹137 crore, his realised salary was ₹70 crore because, the PSUs granted this year are only set to vest in the future, subject to the satisfaction of performance criteria.

We take a look at how his salary compares to peer executives at other major Indian IT companies including Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, L&T Technologies, and LTIMindtree in FY24.