Wipro Ltd’s
billionaire founder and chairman Azim Premji, who donated part of his wealth in
2010 to the charitable trust he has set up, pledged to give more of his money
to the foundation in a letter on Tuesday.
In December 2010,
Premji donated 8.7% of Wipro’s total stock, or about $2 billion at the time,
from his personal holdings in India’s third-largest software exporter to create
an endowment for his Azim Premji Foundation.“The developments of the past two
years have given me confidence in our scaled-up and institutional strategy.
Even as we execute this strategy, I am aware that ensuring stable funding
source is critical for its success. I am committed to transferring more of my
wealth to scale up the endowment of the foundation,” Premji said in the letter.
Premji, who set up
the Azim Premji Foundation in 2001 to focus on philanthropy and work with the
Indian government to improve the country’s school system, also said his
foundation would expand operations and employ about 4,000-5,000 people over the
next five years. The foundation currently employs about 800 people across
India.
“I strongly believe
that those of us who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute
significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far
less privileged. I will continue to act on this belief,” Premji said.
Premji may be setting the
stage for his retirement from Wipro. In the past few months, he has started
preparing to hand over executive responsibilities to professional managers and
elevate elder son Rishad Premji to board seats across different company units
before 2015.
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