Azim Premji

Some Lesser Known Facts About Azim Premji

• Azim Premji was born in Bombay in a Shia Muslim family with roots from Kutch in Gujarat.

• His father, Mohamed Hashem Premji, was a well-renowned businessman and was titled “Rice King of Burma.” He chose to remain in India the time Jinnah (the founder of Pakistan) invited him to Pakistan at the time of partition.

• In 1966, the sudden demise of his father compelled him to leave his bachelor’s degree in-between and to take charge of Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd, later abbreviated as WIPRO Ltd (Western India Palm Refined Oils Limited).

• WIPRO was incorporated by his father in 1945 at Amalner, a small town in Maharashtra. The company produced a laundry soap named 787 and cooking oil with the brand name Sunflower Vanaspati.

• Azim broadened the vision of the company from oil manufacturing to hair care soaps, lighting products, bakery fats, baby toiletries, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, and hydraulic cylinders.

• In 2000, he completed his engineering degree, which he had to leave in-between in 1966.

• Identifying the importance of emerging IT field in the 1980s, he started manufacturing minicomputers in collaboration with Sentinel Computer Corporation, an American company and shifted his focus from soaps to software. 

• He carved a worldwide niche for himself after making Wipro one of the most massive information technology consulting and outsourcing firms in the world.

• In 2001, he came up with Azim Premji Foundation with a vision of developing the elementary education system in rural government schools. This organisation works jointly with the six state governments (Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Telangana, Uttarakhand) and one UT (Puducherry). 

• Azim funds the financial resources needed for the organisation and this foundation covers over 5000 rural schools across India.

• He got married to Yasmeen Premji, a famous businesswoman and philanthropist.

• He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2009 from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut for his exceptional work as a philanthropist.

• Azim was honoured with Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his distinguished work in trade and commerce.

• In 2011, he was conferred the Padma Vibhushan by Pratibha Patil (the then President of India). 

• TIME Magazine listed him twice in the list of “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

• He participated in the Giving Pledge, a campaign that encourages wealthy people to donate a massive amount of their wealth to philanthropic causes and he became the first Indian to become the part of it.

• He was featured on the cover of Business Week magazine with the title “India’s Tech King” in October 2003 and also amongst the Top 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US in Fortune’s August 2003 release. 

• Azim loves hiking and watching movies with his family whenever he gets time.

• He considers his mother as his idol and wants to emulate her in her actions.

• India Today Magazine placed him in Top 10 in “India’s 50 Most Powerful People of 2017” in its April 2017 release.

• In 2015, he was awarded the honorary doctorate by the University of Mysore.