Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman andphilanthropist, who was the chairman ofWipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman.[4] He is informally known as the Czar of the Indian IT Industry.[5][6] He was responsible for guiding Wipro through four decades of diversification and growth, to finally emerge as one of the global leaders in the software industry.[7][8] In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world byAsiaweek.[9] He has twice been listed among the100 most influential people byTime magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011.[10] For years, he has been regularly listed one amongThe 500 Most Influential Muslims.[11][12] He also serves as the Chancellor ofAzim Premji University,Bangalore. Premji was awardedPadma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, by the Government of India.[13]
According to theForbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Premji's net worth is estimated at $14.3 billion and $35.9 billion, respectively, as of December 2024.[14] In 2013, he agreed to give away at least half of his wealth by signingthe Giving Pledge. Premji started with a $2.2 billion donation to the Azim Premji Foundation, focused on education in India.[15] He topped theEdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List for 2020.[16] In 2019, he dropped from the 2nd position in the Forbes India Rich list to 17th position after giving away a huge amount to charity.[17]
In December 2024, Premji was ranked 19th on the Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, with a net worth of $32.2 billion.[18]
Early life and education
Premji was born inBombay, India in an Ismaili Muslim family fromGujarat.[1][19] 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.[20]
Premji has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree fromStanford University.[21] He is married to Yasmeen Premji. The couple have two children, Rishad and Tariq.Rishad Premji is currently the Chairman of the IT business,Wipro.[22]
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.[23] 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.[24] 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, the young entrepreneur, recognising the importance of the emergingIT field, took advantage of the vacuum left behind by the expulsion ofIBM from India, changed the company name toWipro and entered the high-technology sector by manufacturing minicomputers in technological collaboration with an American company Sentinel Computer Corporation.[25][26] Thereafter, Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software.[27]
Recognition
Premji has been recognised byBusiness Week as one of the "Greatest Entrepreneurs" for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing companies.[28]
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 awardedPadma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award by the Government of India.[33]
In April 2017,India Today magazine ranked him 9th in India's 50 Most powerful people of 2017 list.[34]
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.[35]
In December 2019, Premji was cited byForbes magazine as one of the "Heroes of Philanthropy list of 30 altruists" in the Asia-Pacific region.[36]
In 2019,Forbes put Premji in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US.[37]
Philanthropy
Azim Premji Foundation
In 2001, he founded Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization.[38]
In December 2010, he pledged to donate US$2 billion for improving school education in India. This has been done by transferring 213 million equity shares of Wipro Ltd, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trust. This donation is the largest of its kind in India. In March 2019, Premji pledged an additional 34% ofWipro stock held by him to the foundation. At a current value of about US$7.5 billion, this allocation will bring the total endowment from him to the foundation to US$21 billion.[39]
In May 2020, the Azim Premji Foundation collaborated with theNational Centre for Biological Sciences, and the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine for augmenting testing infrastructure to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.[40][41]
The foundation has warned againstscam emails which claim to be from the foundation and falsely request donations.[42]
The Giving Pledge
Premji has said that being rich "did not thrill" him.[43] He 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.[44]
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.[45][46]
In July 2015, he gave away an additional 18% of his stake in Wipro, taking his total contribution so far to 39%.[47][48]
The first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, his lifetime giving now stands at US$21 billion.[49] In April 2019, Azim Premji became the top Indian philanthropist.[50]
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.[51] He retained his position in FY21 by donating ₹9,713 crore (US$1.33 billion).[52]
Controversy
In 2022, legal proceedings were initiated by a court in Bengaluru against Azim Premji for alleged corruption.[53]
