Azim Premji

Azim Premji
Premji at the World Economic Forum, 2013
Born	Azim Hashim Premji (1945-07-24) 24 July 1945 (age 78) Bombay, Bombay presidency, British India[1]
Alma mater	Stanford University (B.S.E)[2]
Occupation	Founder Chairman of wipro
Children	Rishad Premji, Tariq Premji[3]
Honours	Padma Vibhushan (2011)
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Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro 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 by Asiaweek.^[9] He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011.^[10] For years, he has been regularly listed one among The 500 Most Influential Muslims.^[11][12] He also serves as the Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Premji was awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, by the Government of India.^[13]

According to the Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Premji's net worth is estimated at $9.3 billion and $25 billion, respectively, as of February 2023.^[14] 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.^[15] He topped the EdelGive 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]