Azim Premji Net Worth

Azim Premji has an estimated net worth of $8 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Azim Premji profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is down from a peak of $22.6 billion.

Azim Premji is an Indian businessman best known for building Wipro into a major software services company. He took charge of the family’s cooking oil business in 1966 after his father died and left his studies at Stanford. Over time, he widened the business into products like soaps, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. He later renamed the company Wipro, moved into technology, and shifted its focus from soaps to software services.

That long move into technology made him one of India’s best-known business figures. Forbes places him in the technology industry, with wealth tied to software services. Wipro, with $10.4 billion in revenue, is among India’s largest software services providers. Premji also set up PremjiInvest in 2006, a private investment arm with stakes in companies such as Marico. In 2019, Rishad Premji became Wipro’s executive chairman, while Azim Premji stayed on as founder chairman and a non-executive board member.

How Azim Premji built his fortune

Premji’s wealth comes mainly from Wipro and his long expansion of the family business into technology. He began by running a company that made cooking oil, then pushed into bakery fats, toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. Later, Wipro entered high technology by making minicomputers with Sentinel Computer Corporation. After that, Premji steered the company away from soaps and toward software services.

His business interests go beyond Wipro. In 2006, he created PremjiInvest, his family office and private investment arm, which holds stakes in companies including Marico. Wipro also has an innovation center in Silicon Valley that works on new technologies and startup collaboration. Alongside business, Premji is known for large-scale giving. He has given away $21 billion to his charitable foundation. In 2025, that foundation committed $265 million for underprivileged girls to complete their college education.

What Forbes says about his net worth

Forbes has tracked sharp changes in Premji’s fortune over time. It estimated his wealth at $22.6 billion in 2019, then $6.1 billion in 2020. Later, the estimate moved back up to $12 billion in 2024 and stayed at $12 billion in 2025. As of October 20, 2026, Forbes puts him at $8 billion on its real-time billionaires tracker. Those swings came while he remained tied to Wipro and software services.

The money story also includes philanthropy on a very large scale. Forbes notes that Premji is among the world’s most generous billionaires and says he has given away $21 billion to his foundation. The foundation pledged $150 million in 2020 for people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In January 2026, it also said it would build a 1,000-bed charitable hospital in Bangalore. Even with that giving, Forbes still values his fortune at $8 billion in October 2026.