Giving more to philanthropy, Azim Premji, on Friday, announced transfer of 295.5 million equity Wipro shares worth Rs.12,300 crore held by certain entities controlled by him, to an irrevocable trust.
The trust will utilise the endowment to fund various social, not-for-profit initiatives of Azim Premji Foundation, which are expected to scale significantly over the next few years, the statement said.
With this transfer, the trust’s shareholding in Wipro will go up to about 19.93 per cent, according to a statement issued by the Foundation here. The 295.5 million shares of Wipro represent around 12 per cent stake.
Mr. Premji is also the Chairman of Azim Premji Foundation.
On February 19, Mr. Premji had announced that he would commit more of his wealth to philanthropy, as his Foundation scaled up work to improve equity and quality of the primary education system in the country.
The business tycoon had donated 8.7 per cent of the total stock of Wipro from his personal stock-holding for philanthropy in 2010. This had formed the endowment for the Foundation.
In a letter for the first international “Giving Pledge”, group, he said the Foundation currently has 800 people spread across the country. Most of these people are working for the betterment of the disadvantaged. Currently, the Foundation’s work is spread across Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
