ASML Holding vs Wipro: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: ASML Holding and Wipro side by side

1. 1945Wipro

   Incorporated as Western India Vegetable Products

   Mohamed Hasham Premji sets up a vegetable oil business in Amalner, Maharashtra.

2. 1966Wipro

   Azim Premji takes over

   After his father's death, 21-year-old Azim Premji leaves Stanford to run the company.

3. 1984ASML Holding

   Founded as ASM Lithography in Eindhoven

   ASM Lithography starts operations on April 1, 1984 as a joint venture between Philips and ASM International, with the mandate to commercialize the PAS 2000 wafer stepper developed inside Philips.

4. 1986ASML Holding

   PAS 2500 stepper and the Carl Zeiss partnership

   ASML brings the PAS 2500 stepper to market with a new wafer alignment system developed by first chief scientist Steef Wittekoek, and establishes the optics partnership with Carl Zeiss that still supplies every ASML lithography system.

5. 1988ASML Holding

   ASM International withdraws and Philips funds a rescue

   With few customers and heavy cash consumption, ASM International decides to stop funding the joint venture while Philips launches a company-wide cost-cutting program.

6. 1991ASML Holding

   PAS 5500 platform turns the company around

   ASML launches the PAS 5500 platform, whose productivity and resolution win the first large orders from Intel and IBM under chief executive Willem Maris and take the company to profitability. PAS 5500 systems are still running in customer fabs decades later.

7. 1995ASML Holding

   IPO in Amsterdam and on Nasdaq

   ASML becomes a fully independent public company with a dual listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Philips sells half of its shares at the IPO and divests the remainder over the following years.

8. 2000Wipro

   NYSE listing

   Wipro lists American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker WIT.

9. 2001ASML Holding

   TWINSCAN platform launched and Silicon Valley Group acquired

   ASML introduces the TWINSCAN dual-stage architecture, which exposes one wafer while the next is measured and aligned, lifting throughput and overlay accuracy above competing systems.

10. 2003ASML Holding

    First immersion lithography system

    The TWINSCAN AT:1150i debuts as ASML's first immersion machine, projecting 193 nanometer light through a layer of ultrapure water between the lens and the wafer to raise resolution.

11. 2007Wipro

    Acquired Infocrossing

    Wipro Limited acquired Infocrossing for $600 million.

12. 2010ASML Holding

    First EUV prototype shipped

    ASML ships the TWINSCAN NXE:3100, its first extreme ultraviolet lithography tool, to the research facility of an Asian chipmaker.

13. 2012ASML Holding

    Customer Co-Investment Program with Intel, TSMC and Samsung

    Intel, TSMC and Samsung acquire newly issued ASML shares equal to an aggregate 23 percent minority stake for ~$4.35 billion (3.85 billion euros) in cash, and separately commit ~$1.56 billion (1.38 billion euros) of R&D funding over five years dedicated to EUV…

14. 2013ASML Holding

    Cymer acquisition completed and second-generation EUV shipped

    ASML completes the acquisition of Cymer, the San Diego supplier of the light sources used in its lithography systems, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at ~$2.2 billion (1.95 billion euros) when it was agreed in October 2012.

15. 2013Wipro

    Non-IT businesses demerged

    Consumer care, lighting, and infrastructure engineering businesses move to the unlisted Wipro Enterprises.

16. 2017ASML Holding

    EUV enters high-volume manufacturing

    ASML begins shipping the production-ready TWINSCAN NXE:3400B after customers started ordering the NXE:3400 generation in batches in 2016, roughly two decades after EUV research began.

17. 2019ASML Holding

    Dutch government stops EUV exports to China

    The Netherlands does not renew ASML's export licence for EUV systems to China, the start of a widening export control regime.

18. 2019Wipro

    Rishad Premji becomes Executive Chairman

    Azim Premji retires from the executive role and his son Rishad Premji takes over as chairman.

19. 2021Wipro

    Capco acquisition completed

    Wipro completes its $1.45 billion acquisition of financial services consultancy Capco.

20. 2022Wipro

    Acquired Rizing

    Wipro Limited acquired Rizing for $540 million.

21. 2023ASML Holding

    First High-NA EUV system shipped

    ASML ships the first of its next-generation EUV systems with a numerical aperture of 0.55, the TWINSCAN EXE:5000, to Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon.

22. 2024ASML Holding

    Christophe Fouquet becomes chief executive

    Peter Wennink and Martin van den Brink step down as presidents of ASML on April 24, 2024 and Christophe Fouquet becomes president, chief executive officer and chair of the Board of Management.

23. 2024Wipro

    Srini Pallia named CEO

    Srini Pallia succeeds Thierry Delaporte as CEO and Managing Director in April 2024.

24. 2025ASML Holding

    Record year, first EXE:5200B and Mistral AI investment

    ASML reports total net sales of ~$37 billion (32.7 billion euros), up 15.6 percent, net income of ~$10.8 billion (9.6 billion euros), a gross margin of 52.8 percent and 535 systems sold, and closes the year with a backlog of ~$43.8 billion (38.8 billion euros)…

25. 2026Wipro

    Rs 150 billion buyback approved

    Alongside FY2026 results in April 2026, the board approves a Rs 150 billion share buyback.

Acquisitions

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