Azim Premji, the founder of tech giant Wipro, and one of Asia's top philanthropists is celebrating his 77th birthday today, July 24. From a college dropout to making Wipro Limited one of the world's top tech companies as its chairman, Azim Premji’s entrepreneurial journey is inspiring for all.

In 2021, Azim Premji donated an estimated $1.3 billion of his entire capital to social causes through the Azim Premji Foundation, which the billionaire established in 2001. As of 2022, Premji's net worth is estimated to be $9.8 billion, according to Forbes.

Born on July 24, 1945, in Mumbai (then Bombay), Azim Hashim Premji catapulted his family business from a company that used to produce Vanaspati, a type of vegetable oil, to one of the leading software industries in the world.

As he turns 77, here are some interesting facts about the business magnate.

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Dropped out of college at 21

Premji was enrolled at Stanford University and was pursuing a degree in engineering. He had to drop out of college after his father, Muhammad Hashim Premji, died. He came back to India and took over the family business.

Invitation from Pakistan

When India and Pakistan got separated in 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, sent an invitation to Premji's father to shift to Pakistan. However, Muhammad Hashim Premji declined and chose to remain in India.

Not a fan of luxuries

Premji has never shown attraction towards luxuries. He is known to prefer economy class air travel and does not have any expensive cars in his garage. He also prefers staying in company guest houses during his business trips and loves to have food from the company's canteen, according to reports.

Western India Vegetable Products Ltd.

Wipro is one of the leading IT firms in the world but it started as a company that dealt with vegetable products, primarily vegetable oil. Premji took over the business after the death of his father in 1966.

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The company forayed into the IT sector after IBM exited India in 1979. Today, apart from being a major player in the IT industry, Wipro is one of the largest hydraulic cylinder manufacturers in the world.

Completed his degree after 30 years

After the death of his father, he had to drop his plans of graduation at Stanford, but it is said that the business tycoon completed his degree 30 years after dropping out of college, through a distant-learning program.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)