Editing Azim Premji (section)

==Career==
In 1945, Muhammed Hashim Premji incorporated Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd, based at Amalner, a small town in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. It used to manufacture cooking oil under the brand name Sunflower Vanaspati, and a laundry soap called 787, a byproduct of oil manufacture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://churumuri.blog/2009/07/20/when-azim-premjis-father-said-no-and-no-again/|title=When Azim Premji's father said no, and no again |date=20 July 2009 |access-date=10 August 2021 |publisher=churumuri.wordpress.com}}</ref> In 1966, on the news of his father's death, the then 21-year-old Azim Premji returned home from [[Stanford University]], where he was studying engineering, to take charge of [[Wipro]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=7 June 2019|title=Such a long journey: Azim Premji and Wipro|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/such-a-long-journey-azim-premji-and-wipro/articleshow/69684117.cms?from=mdr|access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> The company, which was called Western Indian Vegetable Products at the time, dealt in hydrogenated oil manufacturing but Azim Premji later diversified the company to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. In the 1980s, the young entrepreneur, recognising the importance of the emerging [[Information technology|IT]] field, took advantage of the vacuum left behind by the expulsion of [[IBM]] from India, changed the company name to ''Wipro'' and entered the high-technology sector by manufacturing minicomputers in technological collaboration with an American company Sentinel Computer Corporation.<ref>Chakravarty, 1998:2</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sentinel.com/|title=Home Page – Sentinel Technologies, Inc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513070215/https://sentinel.com/|archive-date=13 May 2021|access-date=13 August 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref> Thereafter, Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software.<ref>{{cite web|title=Azim Premji Profile – Biography of Azim Premji – Information on Azeem Premji Wipro Technologies|url=http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/azim-premji.html|publisher=iloveindia.com|access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref>

In 2006, Premji set up his [[family office]] named PremjiInvest (PI).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chaudhary |first1=Deepti |title=With $1 billion corpus, PremjiInvest plays VC, PE, stockmarket game |url=https://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/7Y0ZAql83Qr7lSuyKqcG0J/With-1-billion-corpus-PremjiInvest-plays-VC-PE-stockmark.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=Mint |date=10 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Antony |first1=Anto |title=Tech Tycoon’s Family Office Bets on AI to Prop $10 Billion Fund |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-28/tech-tycoon-s-family-office-bets-on-ai-to-prop-10-billion-fund |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=Bloomberg |date=29 April 2024}}</ref>

===Recognition===
* Premji has been recognised by ''[[Business Week]]'' as one of the "Greatest Entrepreneurs" for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing companies.<ref>{{cite news|first=Surojit|last=Chatterjee|title=Wipro chief features in Business Week's "30 Greatest Entrepreneurs of all Time" list|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/20070704/wipro-chief-features-in-business-week-30-greatest-entrepreneurs-of-all-time-list.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705133216/http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/20070704/wipro-chief-features-in-business-week-30-greatest-entrepreneurs-of-all-time-list.htm|archive-date=5 July 2009|url-status=dead|work=[[International Business Times]]|date=4 July 2007|access-date=14 January 2022}}</ref>
* In 2000, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the [[Manipal Academy of Higher Education]]. In 2006, Azim Premji was awarded Lakshya Business Visionary by [[National Institute of Industrial Engineering]], Mumbai.<ref>{{cite news|title=India's best business minds converge at NITIEs Lakshya|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/archive/indias-best-business-minds-converge-at-nities-lakshya/181593/|work=[[The Financial Express (India)|Financial Express]]|date=21 October 2006|access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref> 
* In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the title of [[Padma Bhushan]] for his outstanding work in trade and commerce.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013) |publisher=[[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]] |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref>
* In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Wesleyan University]] in Middletown, [[Connecticut]] for his outstanding philanthropic work.<ref>{{cite news|first=Michael|last=S. Roth|title=Studying Abroad|url=http://roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2010/01/08/studying-abroad/?ref_homepage|website=roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu|publisher=[[Wesleyan University]]|date=8 January 2010|access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref> In 2015, [[Mysore University]] conferred an honorary doctorate on him.<ref>{{cite news|first=Shankar|last=Bennur|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/mysore-varsity-doctorate-for-premji-bhyrappa-nagathihalli-chandrashekar/article7107690.ece|title=Mysore varsity doctorate for Premji, Bhyrappa, Nagathihalli Chandrashekar|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=16 April 2015|access-date=11 August 2021}}</ref>
[[File:The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Shri Azim Premji, at an Investiture Ceremony II, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on April 01, 2011.jpg|thumb|The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Shri Azim Premji, at an Investiture Ceremony II, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on April 01, 2011]]
* In 2011, he has been awarded [[Padma Vibhushan]], the second-highest civilian award by the Government of India.<ref>{{cite news|title=Padma Awards 2011: The winners|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/report/padma-awards-2011-the-winners/20110126.htm|work=[[Rediff.com]] |date=26 January 2011|access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref>
* In April 2017, ''[[India Today]]'' magazine ranked him 9th in India's 50 Most powerful people of 2017 list.<ref>{{cite news|title=India's 50 most powerful individuals; Mukesh Ambani tops|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-today-top-50-powerful-indians-mukesh-ambani-ratan-tata-kumar-mangalam-birla-gautam-adani-anand-mahindra-srk-amitabh-bacchan/1/928939.html|publisher=[[India Today]]|date=14 April 2017|access-date=11 August 2021}}</ref>
* In 2018, Premji was conferred with [[Legion of Honour|Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur]] (Knight of the Legion of Honour) – the highest French civilian distinction by the French Government.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meet Azim Premji, the wipro founder who donated 39% of his shares to a charitable trust|url=https://www.businessinsider.in/a-look-at-azim-premjis-salary-over-the-years-and-net-worth-shows-the-wipro-founder-is-indias-most-generous-billionaire/slidelist/70340117.cms|website=[[Business Insider India]]|date=24 July 2019|access-date=11 August 2021}}</ref>
* In December 2019, Premji was cited by ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine as one of the "Heroes of Philanthropy list of 30 altruists" in the Asia-Pacific region.<ref>{{cite news |title=Forbes Asia names Azim Premji Asia's most generous philanthropist |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/special/forbes-asia-names-azim-premji-asias-most-generous-philanthropist/56443/1 |work=[[Forbes India]] |date=4 December 2019 |access-date=11 August 2021}}</ref>
* In 2019, ''Forbes'' put Premji in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Çam|first=Deniz|title=From Azim Premji to Carlos Slim: The World's Most Generous Billionaires Outside Of The U.S.|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes/2019/03/26/from-azim-premji-to-carlos-slim-the-worlds-most-generous-billionaires-outside-of-the-us/|date=26 March 2019|access-date=23 July 2021|website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>