Wipro bigwig Azim Premji once again featured on the Forbes richest list for 2011. Premji who owns close to 80 per cent in the soap-to-software empire, ended up richer by Rs 10,600 crore at the end of fiscal year 2011.
The chairman of India's third-largest IT company recently made news for getting rid of his joint CEOs and rightsizing his managerial strength. Also, in the largest act of philanthropy by an Indian, Premji pledged to give about Rs 8,846 crore ($2 billion) to improve school education in India.
1.Dropping out of Stanford at age 21 to take over the reins of Wipro following the sudden demise of his father. At that time, the company made hydrogenated cooking fat. (He completed his degree over 30 years later).
2.Three years after appointing two CEOs, Suresh Vaswani and Girish Paranjpe, to navigate Wipro, the duo was suddenly removed and replaced. The company says that the move was in keeping with the changes in the business environment , but sceptics find it hard to believe. The duo resigned from Wipro.
3.Leadership style: Knows every small detail of his businesses, but does not interfere with everyday operations of the various independent business heads.
4.Transferred 8.6% of his stake in the company, worth about Rs 8,646 crore, to the Azim Premji Foundation. This is the biggest act of individual philanthropy in India.
5.Husband to Yasmeen, father to Rishad and Tariq.
In January this year, Rishad Premji, Wipro's strategy chief, was given additional responsibility of leading the company's M&A pursuits.
Rishad, 33, who joined Wipro from consulting firm Bain & Co in June 2007, and became general manager (treasury & investor relations) in 2009, was promoted to replace Lakshminarayana KR as the chief strategy officer in 2010.
6.The blatant rise in corruption in India. Premji was a signatory to an open letter to Indian leaders questioning the current state of affairs
7.Wipro is the second-largest hydraulic cylinder company in the world.
8.Enjoys trekking and loves watching movies; he often turns to his senior executives for recommendations.
9.Was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2011.
10."As you get bigger, you have to delegate. It's also an excellent way to get staff involved in the company's operations."
In a harsh criticism of the US "restrictive" policies, chairman of India-based Wipro Azim Premji told the gathering of global CEOs in January 2011 that the emerging economies are "more than fed up" of being lectured by the west to open their economies without any reciprocity. "I think they (emerging economies) are fed up of being needled for opening their economies,"
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