Premji dropped his engineering studies at Stanford University in the US in 1966 to take over the running of a fledgling $1.5m cooking oil company, Western Indian Vegetable Products, after the sudden death of his father.

The company was renamed Wipro in 1977 and from the early 1980s, Premji moved Wipro into the technology sector. The company is now a $1bn a year business - and the number two Indian IT outsourcing company - and Premji himself is the world's richest Indian with a net worth of around $51bn on account of him holding 75 per cent of Wipro's stock. His influence in the booming IT offshoring market is undeniable.

Despite his riches Premji is a principled man, still flying economy class and driving an Opel Astra. He also founded the Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation he personally contributes to that puts money into rural schools to improve elementary learning for millions of Indian children.