Azim Hashim Premji, the chairman of Wipro Technologies, is one of the richest Indians. He is an icon among Indian businessmen, especially in the software industry.
Born on July 24, 1945, Premji was studying Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, USA when due to the sudden demise of his father, he was called upon to handle the family business at the age of 21.
Wipro was then Western Indian Vegetable Products, a small cooking oil company. Premji diversified into bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products and hydraulic cylinders. And then shifted focus from soaps to software.
He transformed Wipro into one of India's most successful IT companies.
Under Azim Premji's stewardship, Wipro has grown from a fledgling Rs 70 million oil company into an IT giant with a turnover of $2.4 billion and an employee strength of 57,000.
Azim Premji has regularly featured in the Forbes' list of the world's richest people. He was also rated among the world's 100 most influential people by the Time magazine.
In 2005, the Indian government honoured him with Padma Bhushan, one of the nation's highest civilian awards.
Photograph: Paresh Gandhi
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