HomeEntrepreneurship NewsAzim Premji donates Rs 52,750 crore of Wipro shares to his foundation

Azim Premji donates Rs 52,750 crore of Wipro shares to his foundation

Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro Ltd on Wednesday earmarked 34 percent of his shares which is priced at  Rs 52,750 crore to an endowment under the Azim Premji Foundation.

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By CNBC-TV18 March 14, 2019, 9:06:31 AM IST (Updated)

Azim Premji donates Rs 52,750 crore of Wipro shares to his foundation
Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd

on Wednesday earmarked 34 percent of his shares which is worth Rs 52,750 crore to an endowment under the Azim Premji Foundation, the company said in an exchange filing.

Premji has earlier given donations, which included Wipro's shares, as well as other assets owned by him and it makes him arguably the biggest philanthropist in Indian history.

After the latest decision, the total value of the philanthropic endowment corpus contributed by him stands at Rs 145,000 crore, which includes 67 percent of economic ownership of Wipro Limited, the foundation said.

"It should be noted that Azim Premji, through the foundation, will continue to exercise voting rights corresponding to these shares, and will continue to control the IT services company," it added.

However, the economic benefits will be entirely routed through the foundation and towards the stated objectives for which the foundation has been set up.

The Azim Premji Foundation works in the field of education directly. It also supports other not-for-profits working in some specific areas through multi-year financial grants.

“The foundation’s field strategy focuses on creating and scaling up a network of institutions at the District and State levels, to contribute to improvement in the school education system on a continued and sustained basis,” it said.

Shares of Wipro closed at Rs 257.75 on Wednesday, down
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