Azim Premji tops the list of billionaire philanthropists!

A billionaire in the race of not earning but giving.

Azim Premji is one of the revered business tycoons of India. He is an engineer, investor and philanthropist who founded one of the largest IT-software companies in India- Wipro Limited. According to Forbes, his net worth stood at about Rs 817.5 billion and ranked 18 in India’s richest person list.

From Stanford to Indian soil

At the young age of 21, Azim Premji returned to India on the death of his father and handled Wipro, which was originally engaged in the cooking oil business. It was then called ‘Western Indian Vegetable Products’. Eventually, the company diversified into various businesses, until in the 1980s when Azim Premji recognized the emerging IT business in India. As IBM withdrew its operations, Wipro found itself a huge opportunity to explore in those times.

The making of Wipro

Originally Wipro entered into the manufacturing minicomputers business by collaborating with the American company Sentinel Computer Corporation. But the company turned its focus on software making. The company witnessed tremendous growth during 1998-2003. The stock price rallied like never before making Azim Premji one of the richest persons in India. Today, Wipro has become a Rs 3.6 lakh crore company by market cap and about Rs 62,000 crore revenue-generating giant.

Billionaire in donation list: Philanthropist for a reason

Over time, Azim Premji is not being recognized as a mere billionaire but as a billionaire philanthropist. He has been recognized by Forbes as the richest philanthropist outside of the US. According to Hurun List, he retained the top spot in philanthropy in India and is known as ‘India’s most generous’, who has donated about Rs 27 crore per day in the last year.

At the age of 76, Azim Premji has truly been a remarkable personality of India. His generous attitude towards charity has won the hearts of millions.