Born in Mumbai, India, in 1945, Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian business titan and one of the world's most dedicated philanthropists. He was born into a Gujarati Ismaili Muslim family; his father was a noted businessman known as the 'Rice King of Burma,' running Western Indian Vegetable Products (Wipro), a company that initially manufactured cooking oil and soap.

Premji was studying Electrical Engineering at Stanford University in the U.S. when his life took a sudden, decisive turn. In 1966, upon hearing the news of his father's death, the then 21-year-old Premji immediately returned home to take charge of the family's struggling hydrogenated cooking oil and laundry soap business. This abrupt end to his formal education and assumption of industrial leadership forged his identity as a disciplined, visionary leader determined to transform a traditional business into a global technology powerhouse.

Azim Premji’s career is the defining success story of modern Indian enterprise. In the 1980s, recognizing the massive technological shift and capitalizing on the political opportunity created by the expulsion of IBM from India, Premji executed a daring, strategic pivot. He changed the company name to Wipro and entered the high-technology sector by manufacturing minicomputers in collaboration with an American company.

This move was the foundation of his immense wealth. Premji patiently and meticulously built Wipro Limited into a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business process outsourcing. His relentless focus on high ethical standards, quality, and decentralized management drove Wipro's exponential growth, positioning it as one of the 'Big Four' Indian IT giants. In 2019, he stepped down as Executive Chairman but remains the Founder Chairman and a non-executive member of the board, cementing his legacy as the chief architect of India's information technology revolution.

Azim Premji is one of the world's most generous philanthropists and the most dedicated in India, having pledged the overwhelming majority (over 90%) of his Wipro shares to the Azim Premji Foundation. His total endowment, exceeding $21 billion, makes his foundation one of the wealthiest in the world.

His philanthropy is focused entirely on improving the public school system in disadvantaged regions of India. He founded the Azim Premji Foundation in 2001 and later the Azim Premji University to develop teachers, curricula, and technology for systemic educational reform. His commitment is structural, not superficial, reflecting his belief that 'philanthropy is not about giving money but about solving problems.' His leadership during crises, including massive commitments to COVID-19 relief, has made him a national moral compass.

Azim Premji is legendary for his frugality, humility, and spartan lifestyle, a unique trait among global billionaires. His attire is simple, conservative, and modest, often consisting of plain white shirts and trousers. His aesthetic reflects a complete dedication to work and ethical simplicity, famously flying economy class and checking his own expenses.

His lifestyle is defined by the absolute absence of typical billionaire luxury. His true wealth is expressed entirely through the Azim Premji Foundation, which commands billions of dollars dedicated to solving India's social problems. His life is a moral lesson in disciplined wealth management and philanthropy, where the greatest luxury is the power to enact large-scale social change.