If there’s one man in corporate India who personifies integrity it’s Azim Premji. And rightly so, values have been his and his company’s hallmark, in the journey that Western India Vegetable Products undertook from soaps to software services.

The 21-year-old, who was forced into the leadership role by the sudden demise of his father, has turned this small Baroda-based edible oil company into a billion-dollar organisation with a global presence.

Premji has total control of his company — he holds 75% of the stock in Wipro — yet he hasn’t found it hard to give a professional, Vivek Paul, the day-to-day charge of running the business.

He’s often seen as being on the conservative side, though there was nothing conservative about the speed with which he moved to acquire Spectramind and thereby helped Wipro make a big-bang entry into the BPO space.

There’re some who believe that it’s time he divested some of the businesses, but so far he has retained all business divisions — hardware, lighting, FMCG and a joint venture with GE Medical Systems — claiming that he’s fine as long as they make profits.

The world has noticed Premji and the global media has written about his success story. All the major business magazines have covered him from time to time and he often makes it to their lists these days.

He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, Forbes (March 2003) listed him as one of the 10 people globally, who have the most “power to effect change” and Business Week (October 2003) featured him on their cover with the sobriquet “ India’s Tech King”.

Despite his wealth and stature, Premji continues to be fiercely passionate about Wipro and remains a hands-on manager who often gets into sales pitches to support his teams.

Though many critics, media and investors have focused on his frugal ways, the man who owns 75% of the company has set up the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organisation, that focuses on extending elementary education to children in India.

More...