Azim Premji

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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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Forbes.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was listed among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, in 2004 and 2011.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> For years, he has been regularly listed one among The 500 Most Influential Muslims.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2023, Forbes estimated Premji's net worth at $11.6 billion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013, he signed the Giving Pledge, committing to give away at least half of his wealth, starting with a $2.2 billion donation to the Azim Premji Foundation, focused on education in India.<ref name="karmali_forbes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List on multiple occasions.<ref name="economictimes_nov2020">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="indiatvnews">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Premji was born in Bombay, British India in an Gujarati Ismaili Khoja Muslim family.<ref name="ebr" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=bp>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Premji has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is married to Yasmeen Premji. The couple have two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad Premji is currently the Chairman of the Wipro.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Chakravarty, 1998:2</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thereafter, Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2006, Premji set up his family office named PremjiInvest (PI).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Recognition

File: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.jpg
Premji receiving the Padma Vibhushan Award from President of India, Pratibha Patil, in April 2011

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  • In 2019, Forbes put Premji in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Philanthropy

Azim Premji Foundation

In 2001, he founded the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> focused on improving the public school system in disadvantaged regions of India.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In December 2010, he pledged to donate US$2 billion for improving school education in India by transferring 213 million equity shares or 8.7% stake in Wipro, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trustee Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2013, he transferred a 12% stake in Wipro to the Azim Premji Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2015, he gave away an additional 18% of his stake in Wipro to the foundation, taking his total contribution to 39%.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which made him the top Indian philanthropist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2020, the Azim Premji Foundation, Wipro, and Wipro Enterprises committed ₹1,125 crore (US$140 million) to COVID-19 relief efforts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This was followed by an additional commitment of ₹1,000 crore in June 2021 to support the universal vaccination program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Giving Pledge

In 2013, Premji 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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See also

References

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