BizPersoN!

AZIM PREM JI (WIPRO)

Azim prem ji was born on 24 July 1945 (age 67).A guiding the
company through four decades of diversification and growth to emerge as one of the Indian
leaders in the software industry.
According to Forbes, he is currently the third wealthiest
Indian, and the 41st richest in the world, with a personal
wealth of $12.2 billion in 2012.
[2][4] In 2000, he was voted among the 20 most powerful
men in the world by Asiaweek.
He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011.
Premji owns 79 percent of Wipro and also owns a private equity fund, PremjiInvest, which
manages his $1 billion personal portfolio.

CAREER:
When Azim Premji took over as its chairman, Wipro dealt in hydrogenated cooking fats and later diversified to bakery fats,ethnic ingredient based toiletries,hair care soaps, baby toiletries,lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to
software. In the 80s Wipro diversified into IT.

PERSONAL LIFE:
Azim Premji is said to have been born either into a Bohra memoni or Nizari Ismaili family. He has a BSEE degree (eq.to BE
degree in Electrical Engg) from Stanford University, USA. He is
married to Yasmeen. The couple have two children, Rishad and
Tariq. Rishad is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of IT
Business, Wipro.
He lives a low profile life and prefers to travel in air by
economy class, prefers to stay in employee guest houses than five
star hotels thus leading by example.
Premji has been recognised by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs for
being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world’s
fastest growing companies.
In 2000, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the
Manipal Academy of Higher Education
. In 2006, Azim Premji was awarded Lakshya Business Visionary by National Institute of
Industrial Engineering
, Mumbai.In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate
from Wesleyan University in Middletown,Connecticut for his outstanding philanthropic work.

In 2005 the Government of India
honoured him with the title of Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and commerce. In 2011, he has been
awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by the Government of India.

Philanthropy:
Azim Premji Foundation and University
In 2001, he founded Azim Premji
Foundation,a non-profit organisation, with a vision to
significantly contribute to achieving quality universal education that facilitates a just,
equitable, humane and sustainable society. The Foundation works in the area of elementary education to pilot and develop 'proofs of concept'
that have a potential for systemic change in India's 1.3 million
government-run schools. A specific focus is on working in
rural areas where the majority of these schools exist. This choice to work with elementary education (Class I to VIII) in rural
government-run is a response to evidence of educational
attainment in India.
In December 2010, he pledged to donate $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.
The Azim Premji University was established under an act of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly to run programmes to develop education and development
professionals, offer alternative models for educational change
and also invest in educational research to continuously stretch the boundaries of educational
thinking.
The Giving Pledge Azim Premji has become 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 philanthropy club.
"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.