Azim Premji Gives Half of His Stake in Wipro for Charity

Azim Premji has so far given away 39% of his stake to a charitable trust

(Photo: Reuters)

IT czar Azim Premji has given away almost half of his shareholding in Wipro, India’s third largest exporter of software services, towards philanthropy.

Wipro’s billionaire founder has given away an additional 18% of his stake in the IT company for charity, thus earmarking a 39% of stake (worth Rs 53,284 crore) for a charitable trust.

The latest philanthropic initiative by Mr Premji would pump in an additional Rs 530 crore by way of dividends into the Azim Premji Trust’s corpus this year.

Premji, 69, is the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, sponsored by billionaires Warren Buffett and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to invite the world’s wealthiest to donate a majority of their wealth to charity.

Over the past fifteen years, I have tried to put this belief into action through my personal philanthropic work. Over these years I have irrevocably transferred a significant part of the shareholding in Wipro, amounting to 39 per cent of the shares of Wipro, to a Trust (of which ownership in 21.14 per cent was transferred and for the balance the Trust is entitled to beneficial interest of dividends and sale proceeds.
– Azim Premji

The previously transferred 21 per cent stake was estimated at $4.3 billion. The promoter group led by Mr Premji holds a 73.39 per cent stake in Wipro.