While discussions about India's wealthiest billionaires typically focus on figures like Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Ratan Tata, there was a time when Wipro founder Azim Premji held the title of India's richest person. Recently, his wealth has seen a remarkable surge of 2200% during the financial year 2023-24, bringing him back into the spotlight.
Premji earned approximately Rs 9,100 crore from dividends and share buybacks in FY24. This dramatic increase in earnings from Rs 400 crore in the previous fiscal has catapulted him to second place among India's top earners in the 2023-24 financial year, a significant rise from his 27th position the previous year.
Although his current net worth is Rs 1,200 crore, these figures could change dramatically if the reported earnings hold.
Who is Azim Premji?
Born in Mumbai, Premji initially took over his family’s business after his father, Hashim Premji, passed away in 1966. Azim, a Stanford University graduate in electrical engineering, transformed the family's cooking oil business into a global software powerhouse. Remarkably, he completed his Stanford degree via distance learning in 1999.
Known as the "Czar" of the Indian IT industry, Premji played a pivotal role in Wipro's expansion, including establishing an innovation hub in Silicon Valley. His son, Rishad Premji, assumed the role of Wipro's executive chairman in July 2019. Wipro, now valued at over Rs 2 lakh crore, is one of India's largest software services firms.
With a net worth of $11.4 billion (around Rs 94,000 crore), Azim Premji is also one of the most philanthropic billionaires in India. In 2013, he pledged to donate half of his fortune to charity and has already contributed $2.2 billion to the Azim Premji Foundation, which focuses on improving education in India. Premji's entrepreneurial journey began in the 1980s when he expanded Wipro in response to the Indian government's request to replace IBM, leading to a significant rise in the company's value by the 1990s.
