India’s richest IT tycoon Azim Premji has given away almost half of his stake in Wipro, the country’s third largest exporter of software services, to charity. The billionaire founder’s latest donation will bring an additional Rs 530 crore into the Azim Premji Foundation’s corpus this year by way of dividends and help expand its charitable endeavors.
So far, the 69-year old Premji has contributed 39 per cent of his stake (worth Rs 53,284 crore) to the charitable trust. He has been gradually transferring his shares to the foundation over the last five years—in 2010, he transferred 9% of his shares worth $2 billion, and followed it up with a 12% share transfer in 2013 worth $2.3 billion. The foundation will be entitled to earnings from the dividends from these shares and proceeds from share sale, if and when it happens.
He is the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, sponsored by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The pledge invites the wealthiest to donate majority of their wealth to charity.
“Over the past 15 years, I have tried to put this belief into action through my personal philanthropic work…,” Premji said in a letter to shareholders published in the company’s annual report for the year ended March 2015. Premji also stated in the report that economic value is sustainable only if created on a foundation of ethics and responsibility.
Premji, often considered the ‘most generous Indian billionaire’, set up the Azim Premji Foundation in 2001 to focus on philanthropy and improve the country’s school system. The foundation works in eight states with more than 350,000 schools.