Former chairman of Wipro Limited and one of India's leading business tycoons, Azim Premji, needs no introduction. Born on July 24, 1945, Premji is also known as the Czar of the Indian IT industry.

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Premji was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) to a well-known businessman Mohamed Premji. Mohamed Premji was also known as the Rice king of Burma.

Premji inherited Wipro from his father at the age of 21 in 1966 after his father's sudden demise. He was about to complete his engineering degree from Stanford university at that time but decided to postpone it. Premji finally completed his education in 1999 through a distance learning programme.

Wipro is among India's largest software services providers.

Premji is also a well-known philanthropist in India as he has contributed a significant amount of his earnings to social causes.

In FY20 and FY21, Premji emerged as the most generous Indian and topped the philanthropy charts by donating Rs 22 crore a day or Rs 7,904 crore and in FY21, Premji donated Rs 9,713 crore or Rs 27 crore a day.

However, in FY22, Premji slipped to the second position with an annual donation of Rs 484 crore, according to the India Philanthropy Report 2023 by Dasra and Bain & Co.

Also Read:Azim Premji remains India’s top philanthropist despite a deceptive low in FY22

Ever since Azim Premji took control of Wipro, he diversified the company from producing vegetable oil to providing IT services, software solutions, and consulting services.

Premji is known for his generous donations. He has so far given away $21 billion to his charitable foundation. In 2020, when the country witnessed the first wave of the pandemic, Azim Premji Foundation pledged $150 million to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, Azim Premji handed over the reins of his company to his son, Rishad Premji. He is now the executive chairman of the company.

As of May 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth as $ 9.1 billion making him 223rd richest person in the world.