Azim Premji

Azim Premji
Premji at the World Economic Forum, 2013
Born	Azim Hashim Premji (1945-07-24) 24 July 1945 (age 80) Bombay, Bombay presidency, British India (Present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) [1]
Alma mater	Stanford University (B.S.E) [2]
Occupation	Founder Chairman of Wipro
Children	Rishad Premji, Tariq Premji [3]
Honours	Padma Vibhushan (2011)
Signature

Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. ^{[4] [5] [6]} In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek . ^[7] He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. ^[8] For years, he has been regularly listed one among The 500 Most Influential Muslims . ^{[9] [10]} He also serves as the Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Premji was awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, by the Government of India. ^[11]

According to Forbes, Premji's real-time net worth was estimated at $11.6 billion as of October 2023. ^[12] In 2013, he agreed to give away at least half of his wealth by signing the Giving Pledge. Premji started with a $2.2 billion donation to the Azim Premji Foundation, focused on education in India. ^[13] He has topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List on multiple occasions. ^[14] In 2019, he dropped from the 2nd position in the Forbes India Rich list to 17th position after making a significant philanthropic donation. ^[15]

Early life and education

Premji was born in Bombay, British India in an Gujarati Ismaili Muslim family. ^{[1] [16]} His father was a noted businessman and was known as Rice King of Burma. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, invited his father Muhammed Hashim Premji to come to Pakistan, he turned down the request and chose to remain in India. ^[17]

Premji has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University. ^[18] He is married to Yasmeen Premji. The couple have two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad Premji is currently the Chairman of the Wipro. ^[19]

Career

In 1945, Muhammed Hashim Premji incorporated Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd, based at Amalner, a small town in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. It used to manufacture cooking oil under the brand name Sunflower Vanaspati, and a laundry soap called 787, a byproduct of oil manufacture. ^[20] In 1966, on the news of his father's death, the then 21-year-old Azim Premji returned home from Stanford University, where he was studying engineering, to take charge of Wipro. ^[21] The company, which was called Western Indian Vegetable Products at the time, dealt in hydrogenated oil manufacturing but Azim Premji later diversified the company to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. In the 1980s, in the aftermath of the expulsion of IBM from India, Premji changed the company name to Wipro and entered the high-technology sector by manufacturing minicomputers in technological collaboration with an American company Sentinel Computer Corporation. ^{[22] [23]} Thereafter, Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software. ^[24]

In 2006, Premji set up his family office named PremjiInvest (PI). ^{[25] [26]}

Recognition

• Premji has been recognised by Business Week as one of the "Greatest Entrepreneurs" for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing companies. ^[27]
• In 2000, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. In 2006, Azim Premji was awarded Lakshya Business Visionary by National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai. ^[28]
• In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the title of Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and commerce. ^[29]
• In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut for his outstanding philanthropic work. ^[30] In 2015, Mysore University conferred an honorary doctorate on him. ^[31]

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Shri Azim Premji, at an Investiture Ceremony II, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on April 01, 2011

• In 2011, he has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award by the Government of India. ^[32]
• In April 2017, India Today magazine ranked him 9th in India's 50 Most powerful people of 2017 list. ^[33]
• In 2018, Premji was conferred with Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) – the highest French civilian distinction by the French Government. ^[34]
• In December 2019, Premji was cited by Forbes magazine as one of the "Heroes of Philanthropy list of 30 altruists" in the Asia-Pacific region. ^[35]
• In 2019, Forbes put Premji in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US. ^[36]

Philanthropy

Azim Premji Foundation

• In 2001, he founded Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization. ^[37] focused on improving the public school system in disadvantaged regions of India. ^[38]
• In December 2010, he pledged to donate US$2 billion for improving school education in India by transferring 213 million equity shares of Wipro, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trust. In March 2019, Premji pledged an additional 34% of Wipro stock held by him to the foundation, increasing the total endowment from him to the foundation to US$21 billion. ^[39]
• In April 2020, the Azim Premji Foundation, Wipro, and Wipro Enterprises committed ₹1,125 crore (US$140 million) to COVID-19 relief efforts. ^[40] This was followed by an additional commitment of ₹1,000 crore in June 2021 to support the universal vaccination program. ^[41]

The Giving Pledge

Premji has said that being rich "did not thrill" him. ^[42] He became the first Indian to sign up for the Giving Pledge, a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, to encourage the wealthiest people to make a commitment to give most of their wealth to philanthropic causes. He is the third non-American after Richard Branson and David Sainsbury to join this club. ^[43]

I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged.

— Azim Premji

In April 2013 he said that he has already given more than 25 per cent of his personal wealth to charity. ^{[44] [45]}

In July 2015, he gave away an additional 18% of his stake in Wipro, taking his total contribution so far to 39%. ^{[46] [47]}

The first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, his lifetime giving now stands at US$21 billion. ^[48] In April 2019, Azim Premji became the top Indian philanthropist. ^[49]

EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List

Azim Premji topped the list of "India's most generous" released by Hurun India and EdelGive on 10 November 2020. He donated ₹79.04 billion in financial year 2019–20 which is a 17-fold jump from the ₹4.53 billion donated in FY19. Education is the primary cause for his donations. ^[50] He retained his top position in FY21 by donating ₹9,713 crore (US$1.33 billion). ^[51] In the 2023 list, which covered donations for FY23, Premji was ranked second after Shiv Nadar, with a donation of ₹1,774 crore. ^[52]

See also

• List of billionaires

References

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4. "Wipro's Azim Premji to hand over baton to son Rishad Premji" . The Hindu . 6 June 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
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7. "Azim Premji: Latest News, Videos and Azim Premji Photos". The Times of India . Retrieved 26 May 2020.
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9. "Azim Premji". themuslim500.com. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
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11. "Premji happy to win Padma Vibhushan". 26 January 2011.
12. "Azim Premji". Forbes. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
13. Karmali, Naazneen (23 February 2013). "Azim Premji Donates $2.3 Billion After Signing Giving Pledge". Forbes. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
14. "Azim Premji tops EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020, Shiv Nadar & Mukesh Ambani follow". The Economic Times. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
15. "Forbes India Rich list: Azim Premji drops from 2nd to 17th position after huge donation to charity - BusinessToday". Business Today. 11 October 2019.
16. "Azim Premji, Chairman/CEO, Wipro". worldofceos.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
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22. Chakravarty, 1998:2
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26. Antony, Anto (29 April 2024). "Tech Tycoon's Family Office Bets on AI to Prop $10 Billion Fund". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
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28. "India's best business minds converge at NITIEs Lakshya". Financial Express . 21 October 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
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30. S. Roth, Michael (8 January 2010). "Studying Abroad". roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu. Wesleyan University . Retrieved 10 August 2021.
31. Bennur, Shankar (16 April 2015). "Mysore varsity doctorate for Premji, Bhyrappa, Nagathihalli Chandrashekar". The Hindu . Retrieved 11 August 2021.
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39. Paul, Arnab (13 March 2019). "Wipro Chairman Premji pledges 34 percent of company shares for philanthropy". Reuters . Bengaluru, India. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
40. "Azim Premji foundation, Wipro commit Rs 1125 crore to tackle COVID-19 outbreak". The Economic Times. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
41. "Our Response to the COVID-19 Crisis". Azim Premji University. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
42. "Premji to donate more to philanthropic causes". Indian Express . PTI. 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
43. "Azim Premji donates half of his wealth". IBN Live . 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
44. Dhamija, Anshul (19 April 2013). "I have given 25% of my wealth to charity, Wipro chairman Azim Premji says". The Times of India . PTI. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
45. Dhamija, Anshul (23 February 2013). "I believe those of us who are privileged should contribute significantly to try and create a better world: Noble words and noble deeds of Azim Premji". India Today . Retrieved 11 August 2021.
46. "Azim Premji gives half of his stake in Wipro for charity". The Hindu . 8 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
47. Ramanathan, Arundhati (9 July 2015). "Wipro's Azim Premji gives 18% of his stake in company for charity". Hindustan Times . Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
48. Chung, Grace (2 December 2019). "Asia's 2019 Heroes Of Philanthropy: Catalysts For Change". Forbes . Retrieved 11 August 2021.
49. "Why India's rich don't give their money away". BBC News . 2 April 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
50. "Wipro's Premji emerges as most generous Indian in FY20". The Hindu . 10 November 2020. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 11 November 2020.
51. Jaiswal, Priya (29 October 2021). "Azim Premji retains 'India's most generous' tag, donated ₹27 crore per day". indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
52. "Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji, Mukesh Ambani... among top donors in FY 2022-23: EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023". The CSR Universe. 3 November 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2025.

External links

• Profile at Wipro
• Azim Premji at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Azim Premji on Charlie Rose
• Profile at Forbes
• Profile at Bloomberg L.P.
• Gates, Bill (21 April 2011). "Azim Premji". Time. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
• Smith, David (27 August 2006). "The story of Bangalore Bill". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2011.