Azim Premji to transfer 8.7 per cent Wipro stake to his charity fund
01 Dec 2010
Wipro co-chairman Azim Premji will transfer 8.68 per cent stake in the company, comprising 213 million shares worth nearly Rs8,846 crore ($2 billion), to Azim Premji Foundation.
Premji, however, will retain voting rights of the transferred shares, the company said in a release.
Premji Foundation, an endowment headed by Azim Premji, funds various social and not-for-profit initiatives.
The money will go to an irrevocable trust effective 7 December, Wipro Ltd said in the statement.
The increase in the capital structure of the foundation will help Premj, the second richest man in India with a personal wealth of $17 billion (as per Forbes), to expand the scope and extwnd of its work, mainly in rural India.
Founded in 2001, the Azim Premji Foundation works in close collaboration with state governments, mostly in rural areas of the country.