Azim Hashim Premji was born in 1945 in Mumbai. His simplicity and high values have earned him huge respect across India. Wipro, the IT company founded by him, is India's fourth-largest outsourcer with a revenue of $8.4 billion. Premji’s father, Mohamed Hashem Premji was an entrepreneur.
Azim was good at studies but had to leave his studies midway at the age of 21 from Stanford (US) in 1966 to look after the family's cooking oil business when his father died suddenly. But that didn't stop him. It took him 30 years to be able to shell out time to study again, he completed the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
When Azim Premji took over his late father's business (Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd began in 1945), he diversified into other products such as hydraulic cylinders, soaps, and lighting products. He renamed his company as 'Wipro' in 1977. Premji's company started with manufacturing microcomputers under a technology-sharing agreement with US-based Sentinel Computers after IBM withdrew its business from India and soon started providing software solutions in addition to its hardware operations. Wipro became the only Indian computer manufacturer to receive Y2K-compliant certification from the National Software Testing Laboratory in the US in 1999. Wipro also has an innovation lab, which is focused on developing new technologies and collaborating with startups. The centre is in Silicon Valley.
While he was named the nineteenth richest person in India with an estimated net worth of US$6.5 billion according to India's Richest 2019 list by Forbes, Premji is popular for his simple frugal lifestyle. His employees speak about his honest and modest ways of dealing in office.
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. Founded in 2001, the organisation works in the area of elementary education, focussing on rural areas to enhance the quality and equity of school education. The foundation has also pledged $134 million towards providing aid for the COVID-19 pandemic in India in April 2020. Premji has given away $21 billion to his charitable foundation earlier. He is known as one of the world's most generous billionaires.
75-year-old Premji has two sons, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad succeeded his father as Wipro's executive chairman in July 2019.
Azim Hashim Premji was born in 1945 in Mumbai. His simplicity and high values have earned him huge respect across India. Wipro, the IT company founded by him, is India's fourth-largest outsourcer with a revenue of $8.4 billion. Premji’s father, Mohamed Hashem Premji was an entrepreneur. Azim was good at studies but had to leave his studies midway at the age of 21 from Stanford (US) in 1966 to look after the family's cooking oil business when his father died suddenly. But that didn't stop him. It took him 30 years to be able to shell out time to study again, he completed the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
When Azim Premji took over his late father's business (Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd began in 1945), he diversified into other products such as hydraulic cylinders, soaps, and lighting products. He renamed his company as 'Wipro' in 1977. Premji's company started with manufacturing microcomputers under a technology-sharing agreement with US-based Sentinel Computers after IBM withdrew its business from India and soon started providing software solutions in addition to its hardware operations.
Wipro became the only Indian computer manufacturer to receive Y2K-compliant certification from the National Software Testing Laboratory in the US in 1999. Wipro also has an innovation lab, which is focused on developing new technologies and collaborating with startups. The centre is in Silicon Valley.
While he was named the nineteenth richest person in India with an estimated net worth of US$6.5 billion according to India's Richest 2019 list by Forbes, Premji is popular for his simple frugal lifestyle. His employees speak about his honest and modest ways of dealing in office.
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. Founded in 2001, the organisation works in the area of elementary education, focussing on rural areas to enhance the quality and equity of school education. The foundation has also pledged $134 million towards providing aid for the COVID-19 pandemic in India in April 2020. Premji has given away $21 billion to his charitable foundation earlier. He is known as one of the world's most generous billionaires.
75-year-old Premji has two sons, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad succeeded his father as Wipro's executive chairman in July 2019.
