Root of MindTree, Ashok Soota quits

Bangalore, Jan 29: It seem to be a season of quitting and major management re-shuffling happening in the IT world. The latest one comes from Ashok Soota, co-founder and executive chairman of MindTree Ltd who has quit from his position. MindTree is a mid-sized software and product engineering services company created by Soota 10 years ago.

In a press release he said, “It is something I have thought about for a few months and arrived at a well-considered conclusion. I will finalize and announce my plans for a new business venture, shortly after my departure."He also cited personal reasons for his sudden departure from the company.

In a communique sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Soota said he had transmitted news of his resignation to the company"s board of directors and hopes to be relieved from duties by Mar 31. Soota added that the “transition will not pose any difficulties" and sounded confident of MindTree's capabilities and said, “MindTree leaders are persons of the finest financial integrity and I am confident of their ability to achieve the company"s goals."

A spokesperson for Soota revealed, “The new venture would be in the same (IT services) space, which is where he has the requisite expertise and spent most of his working life." Soota holds a 11% stake in MindTree. Soota was the CEO of Wipro's IT business before he started MindTree and was instrumental in converting Wipro into a consumer durable maker into a huge IT name.

The news comes at a time when MindTree's profits were in a downward swing. The company was heavily relying on the launch of a a 3G smartphone based on the Android platform that did not do well as expected. .

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