AZIM PREMJI

Took over Wipro (then Western India Vegetable Products) in 1966 at age 21 after his father's death. Pivoted the company from cooking oils and soaps into IT services in the 1980s — a decision that seemed insane at the time.

Grew Wipro into one of India's top three IT services companies with 250,000+ employees and $11 billion in annual revenue. Wipro's market cap exceeded $30 billion.

Signed the Giving Pledge in 2013, committing to give away the majority of his wealth. Has donated over $21 billion — primarily through the Azim Premji Foundation, which focuses on education reform across rural India.

His foundation operates one of the largest private education programs in the world, working in 350,000+ schools across seven Indian states. Retired as Wipro chairman in 2019 after 53 years of leadership.

Wipro (chairman emeritus), Azim Premji Foundation (founder), Azim Premji University (founder)

Long-term industrial builder, not a financial investor. Premji built one company over 53 years and then gave most of the proceeds away.

His investing approach is the antithesis of portfolio diversification — he concentrated everything in Wipro and rode the IT services wave for five decades. His philanthropic "investing" is equally concentrated: education in rural India.

The IT pivot. Recognizing that India's English-speaking, technically educated workforce could serve the global IT services market — and pivoting a cooking oil company to capture that opportunity — was one of the greatest strategic decisions in Indian business history.

Wipro went from effectively zero in IT to $11 billion in annual revenue over four decades.

Being too conservative on acquisitions. While Infosys and TCS grew more aggressively through acquisitions in the 2010s, Wipro was slower to adapt, losing market share.

Some critics argue Premji held on too long and that Wipro could have been even more dominant with bolder M&A. The company's growth rate lagged peers in his final years as chairman.

Build one thing well over decades, then give it all away. Premji's philosophy combines extreme business patience with extreme philanthropic generosity.

He believes wealth is a trust to be deployed for social good, not a personal scoreboard. "If there is one thing I have learned, it is that the return on investment in improving lives is the highest return you can earn."

Married to Yasmeen Premji. Has two sons, Rishad and Tariq.

Rishad Premji is now Chairman of Wipro. The Premji family is Muslim — Azim is one of the most prominent Muslim business leaders in India.

Extremely private about family life.

Stanford University (BS in Electrical Engineering). Returned to India mid-degree when his father died, and later completed his degree.

His education at Stanford exposed him to the emerging US tech industry, which informed Wipro's IT pivot.

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