Azim Hashim Premji on March 13 earmarked economic benefits of about 34 percent of his shares in Wipro, worth $21 billion (Rs 1.45 lakh crore) for his foundation involved in philanthropy. With his art of giving he has become Asia’s most generous billionaire and world’s third top philathropist.
Azim Hashim Premji is informally known as Czar of IT Industry in India and heads one of the largest IT companies – Wipro Limited.
In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. Premji owns 73% percent of Wipro and also owns a private equity fund, Premji Invest, which manages his $2 billion worth of personal portfolio.
He is currently the second richest Indian with an estimated net worth of US$15.6 billion as of October 2018. In 2013, he agreed to give away at least half of his wealth by signing The Giving Pledge. Premji has already donated $2.2 billion to the Azim Premji Foundation, focused on education in India.
Warren Buffett still tops the list of philanthropists in the world with a donation of $46.6 billion. Bill Gates is second in the list with $41 billion donated to his foundation Gates and Milinda Foundation.
With this new donation Azim Premji has become third in the list of philanthropists in the world and first in Asia.
