Bangalore, Feb 21 (Agencies) : Wipro chairman Azim Premji became the first Indian to donate 50 per cent of his wealth after he signed up for the 'Giving Pledge' an undertaking led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, among others. The pledge makes it mandatory for CEOs to donate a majority of their wealth.
The Wipro founder and chairman, who has already committed nearly 9,000 crore to the cause of education, will now give more to charity. Premji is the third non-American after Richard Branson and David Sainsbury to join the philanthropy club.
Premji had donated 8.7 per cent of the total stock of Wipro from his personal stock-holding for philanthropy in 2010. In a note to the 'Giving Pledge' organisation, the 67-year-old technology business tycoon wrote, "I was deeply influenced by Gandhi's notion of holding one's wealth in trusteeship, to be used for the betterment of society and not as if one owned it".