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Executive Overview
Azim Premji dropped his studies at Stanford University in 1966 to take over the family business, Wipro, in Bombay, following his father's sudden death. He was only 21, and Wipro was a $5 million company selling consumer products. Today Wipro has a market capitalization of $10 billion and is engaged in several high-tech businesses, notably software services. More than half its sales come from exports, principally to the United States. Wipro's stock now trades on the New York Stock Exchange at a price-earnings multiple of 70 or more. Its customers include several Fortune 500 companies for which it provides software support and R&D services. Wipro was the first company in the world to obtain CMM-Level 5 certification from Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, the highest possible rating for a software development organization. Wipro is also renowned within India as an ethical and professionally managed company.
Azim Premji, 55, whose family still owns 84 percent of the company, embodies the Wipro spirit. Known for his modesty and simple lifestyle (he still travels within India by economy class), Premji has created a world-class company committed to excellence and high ethical standards. He shrugs off the fact that, with a net worth in the billions, he is the richest Indian, and for a time was the third or fourth wealthiest person in the world. In 2000 he completed the course work necessary to earn his undergraduate degree from Stanford University.
How did a company that was selling processed vegetable oils and other low-tech consumer products become a leading Indian company in software services?
In the late 1970s, our sales were only $10-15 million. We were looking to diversify into high-tech businesses with a service component, and IT caught our eye. IBM had just quit India over policy differences with the government, and that left a vacuum in the computer field. We saw an opportunity to sell microprocessor-based minicomputers, but also noticed that our local competitors were not investing in after-sales service-an IBM tradition that deserved to be carried forward. We also found that managers of IT departments in Indian companies were technically strong, but weak in their business skills. So we put together a business that combined technical strength with good post-sales service. That...