In October 2023,Forbes estimated Premji's net worth at $11.6 billion.[12] In 2013, he signedthe 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.[13] He has topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List on multiple occasions.[14][15]
Early life and education
Premji was born inBombay, British India in anGujarati Ismaili Khoja Muslim family.[1][16] His father was a noted businessman and was known asRice King of Burma.Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder ofPakistan, 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 fromStanford University.[18] He is married to Yasmeen Premji. The couple have two children, Rishad and Tariq.Rishad Premji is currently the Chairman of theWipro.[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 fromStanford University, where he was studying engineering, to take charge ofWipro.[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 ofIBM from India, Premji changed the company name toWipro 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 2011, he was awardedPadma 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 withChevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) – the highest French civilian distinction by the French Government.[34]
In 2019,Forbes put Premji in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US.[35]
Philanthropy
Azim Premji Foundation
In 2001, he founded the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization[36] focused on improving the public school system in disadvantaged regions of India.[37]
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.[38] In February 2013, he transferred a 12% stake in Wipro to the Azim Premji Foundation.[39][40] In July 2015, he gave away an additional 18% of his stake in Wipro to the foundation, taking his total contribution to 39%.[41][42]
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,[43][44] which made him the top Indian philanthropist.[45]
In April 2020, the Azim Premji Foundation, Wipro, and Wipro Enterprises committed ₹1,125 crore (US$140 million) to COVID-19 relief efforts.[46] This was followed by an additional commitment of ₹1,000 crore in June 2021 to support the universal vaccination program.[47]
The Giving Pledge
In 2013, Premji became the first Indian to sign up forthe Giving Pledge, a campaign led byWarren Buffett andBill 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 afterRichard Branson andDavid Sainsbury to join this club.[48][49]
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.
