2024-07-26 19:27:36
New Delhi: Azim Premji, former chairman of India’s third largest IT company Wipro, is known for his simplicity and generosity. 79-year-old Premji was once the richest man in India. In 2019, he donated 67 percent of his shares in Wipro. Its value today is Rs 1.45 lakh crore. Premji regularly donates a large part of his earnings. He makes significant contributions in the field of education. Once Wipro CEO TK Kurien received a call from Premji. He asked the price of toilet paper used in Wipro’s office. Kurien was surprised to hear this. This incident reflects Premji’s subtle vision and frugality. Premji was born on 24 July 1945 in Mumbai. His father Mohammed Hashim Premji was famous as the ‘Rice King of Burma’. After the death of his father in 1966, at the age of 21, Premji left his engineering studies from Stanford University and returned to India to take over the family business.
He renamed ‘Western India Vegetable Products Limited’ (WVPL) as Wipro. Under his leadership, Wipro diversified into sectors like IT, hardware, toiletries. Today it is India’s third largest IT company with a market cap of Rs 2.65 lakh crore.
At the forefront of charity
Despite being the 17th richest person in India, Premji is at the forefront in terms of charity. In 2023, he and his family donated Rs 1,774 crore which is 267 percent more than in 2022. His foundation supports quality education, teacher training, digital classrooms and scholarships for underprivileged children.
In 2019, Premji donated 67 percent of Wipro’s shares to his foundation, which was then worth Rs 50,000 crore and is now worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore. In 2024, Azim Premji is ranked 165th in Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people with a net worth of Rs 10043 crore.
The guard stopped him when he came in Maruti Esteem
Premji’s simplicity is exemplary. Raman Roy, who sold his BPO company to Wipro, told a media organization that a guard did not let Premji enter the company. He came in a simple Maruti Esteem. The guard could not believe that a millionaire would drive such a car. Premji’s humility is also reflected in his behavior.
Quoting Nitin Mehta, a former Wipro employee, the same media organization reported that during a trip, Premji insisted on sharing a Maruti van with his family and a colleague. He also said that he is no different from anyone else. We should realize that we are just like everyone else in every way. Azim Premji’s life is a proof of how simplicity and generosity can coexist with immense success and wealth. His life inspires us to adopt simplicity and charity in our lives too.