Business tycoon and the former chairman of Wipro Limited Azim Premji inherited control of Wipro from his father in 1966 at the age of 21. Under his leadership, Wipro diversified from producing vegetable oil to providing IT services, software solutions, and consulting services.
In this article, we take a look at Azim Premji’s net worth, businesses, philanthropy initiatives and more.
Net Worth
Azim Premji’s net worth is estimated at around $9.1 billion, as per Forbes’ real-time net worth as of today. In addition to his holdings in Wipro, he has also invested in several other companies, including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
Business Takeover
Azim Premji abandoned his studies at Stanford in 1966 to take over the family’s cooking oil business, expanding it into software. Wipro has an innovation center located in Silicon Valley that focuses on creating new technologies and collaborating with startups.
Passing the baton
In 2019, Azim Premji stepped down as chairman of Wipro and handed over the reins to his son, Rishad Premji. During his tenure, Azim Premji transformed Wipro into a global IT services giant, with a presence in over 50 countries.
Philanthropy
Apart from his business interests, Azim Premji is also known for his philanthropic efforts. He has donated a significant portion of his wealth to education and social causes through the Azim Premji Foundation.
The foundation aims to improve the quality of education in India and has been involved in several initiatives to promote literacy and primary education. He has committed to donating most of his fortune to charitable causes and has already distributed $21 billion towards enhancing primary education in India.
Besides, he had pledged to commit Rs 2,125 crore for the fight against the pandemic during the outbreak of Covid-19 in India.
