Link to original article http://goo.gl/klW0b My Time: 2 min 17 sec
Days
after tech tycoon Azim Premji officially announced he’d
signed the Giving Pledge, the Indian billionaire made his
biggest philanthropic donation ever: Premji, ranked as India’s
third richest person with a fortune of over $13 billion, announced
Friday that he is donating $2.2 billion, or a 12% stake, in his IT
outsourcer Wipro, to a trust to fund his education-focused Azim
Premji Foundation.
The
donation of 295.5 million shares brings down Premji’s stake
in Wipro from 70% to 58% and increases the charitable trust’s
holding in the company to close to 20%. The billionaire’s latest
act of charity comes on top of an initial $125 million worth of
shares in Wipro that he had earmarked to start the Foundation
in 2001, followed by his gifting shares worth $2 billion to the trust
three years ago which had made him Asia’s
most
generous philanthropist.
With
this new endowment, Premji, often referred to as India’s
Bill Gates earlier for his tech wealth and now for his charity, joins
the ranks of the world’s top five givers. Having donated $4.4
billion thus far, he’s given away more than Carlos Slim
Helu, the world’s richest person, who’s gifted $4 billion to
his foundation. “ This is a magnanimous, magnificent
gesture. But I’m not surprised because Azim is a
philanthropist at heart, “ said biotech pioneer Kiran
Mazumdar-Shaw, Premji’s close friend.
Lately,
Premji has emerged as one of the most outspoken and active among
India’s wealthy on the issue of giving back. Last year in June, he
co-hosted a philanthropy meet with Bill Gates in Bangalore which was
attended by several of the country’s richest businesspeople.
Recently, Premji caused a stir when he said that he supported
a government proposal to tax the super-rich. In comparison to some of
his fellow billionaires in India who splash out on palace-like
homes and expensive toys, Premji’s lifestyle is modest; last
year it is believed he traded his modest Toyota car for a Mercedes
Benz but a second-hand one.
Premji’s
hometown of Bangalore, known as India’s tech capital, can now be
regarded as the country’s philanthropy capital as well. Other
large-hearted residents of this city who have earned billion dollar
fortunes such as the founders of Infosys N.R. Narayana Murthy, Nandan
Nilekani and S.Goplakrishnan, are all notable givers. Premji’s
friend Mazumdar-Shaw who donates half the dividends she gets
annually from her firm Biocon has disclosed to Forbes
that she’s pledged to give away 75% of her wealth: “ Azim
has set a trend for others to emulate.”
E N D
Q 1 In which city does Azim Premji live?
Q 2 What is the name of Kiran Majumdar Shaw's company?
Q 3 How much of her income from dividends from her company does Kiran M. Shaw donates?
Q 4 Including this present donation how many times has Azim Premji donated to his charity?
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Azim Premji Donates $2.3 Billion After Signing Giving Pledge, Forbes.com, By Naazneen Karmali, Forbes Staff 2/23/2013
http://goo.gl/klW0b
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Note: 1. I took a long time to read this article. Anything around 2 min is good for this article. I took a lot more than that.
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