Wipro Limited
Founders
Mohamed Hasham Premji · Founded 1945 · HQ today: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Wipro was founded by Mohamed Hasham Premji in 1945. It is now led by Srini Pallia.
Mohamed Hasham Premji incorporated Western India Vegetable Products Limited in Amalner, Maharashtra in December 1945 to make vegetable oil, and later soaps. When he died in 1966, his son Azim Premji left his studies at Stanford University to take over the company at age 21. Azim Premji broadened the product range and, after IBM left India in the late 1970s, moved the company into computer hardware. Software services followed in the 1980s. The company became Wipro Limited, listed ADRs on the NYSE in 2000, and in 2013 demerged its consumer care, lighting, and infrastructure engineering businesses into the unlisted Wipro Enterprises so that Wipro Limited could focus on IT services.
Rice trader and businessman from Gujarat-origin family based in Bombay.
Mohamed Hasham Premji incorporated Western India Vegetable Products Limited in Amalner, Maharashtra in 1945 to produce vegetable oil. He ran the business until his death in 1966, after which his son Azim Premji took over and later moved the company into information technology. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Srini Pallia
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Leads Wipro's push for large deals, consulting-led selling, and AI-enabled delivery.
Thierry Delaporte
CEO and Managing Director
He decentralized Wipro's operating model into four massive strategic market units, though he struggled to match the organic growth rates of rivals like TCS and Infosys before stepping down.
Rishad Premji
Executive Chairman
As Executive Chairman, he enforced a strict return-to-office mandate and publicly cracked down on employee moonlighting, prioritizing utilization rates over aggressive headcount growth.
Abidali Neemuchwala
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
He led the Appirio purchase and a push into digital services. He stepped down in 2020 and Thierry Delaporte succeeded him.
Wipro was founded on December 29, 1945, by Mohamed Hasham Premji, an enterprising Indian industrialist and merchant.
He founded Western India Vegetable Products Limited in Amalner, Maharashtra, establishing a factory to process peanuts into vanaspati cooking oil and refined vegetable oils sold under the popular 'Sunflower' brand.
During the Partition of India in 1947, Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah invited Mohamed Hasham Premji to move to Pakistan to become the country's first Finance Minister; Premji firmly declined and chose to remain an Indian citizen.
Mohamed Hasham Premji encouraged local farmers, factory workers, and townsfolk in Amalner to buy equity shares in 1945; over the decades, Wipro's stock splits and bonuses turned hundreds of Amalner residents into multi-millionaires.
Under the founder, the company produced Sunflower vanaspati, Kisan refined oil, Camel cooking oil, and laundry soap called '787' manufactured from oil processing by-products.
Mohamed Hasham Premji passed away unexpectedly in 1966, prompting his 21-year-old son Azim Premji to return from his studies at Stanford University to assume executive leadership.
The founder instituted unwavering integrity, fair commercial dealing, and financial conservatism, which later formed the bedrock of Wipro's celebrated ethical corporate culture.
Mohamed Hasham Premji's profitable manufacturing base, listed public equity structure, and reliable cash flows provided Azim Premji with the financial runway needed to pivot boldly into computing in 1980.
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