Wipro's Chairman Azim Premji on building a world-class Indian company

Azim Premji dropped his studies at Stanford University in 1966 to take over the family business, Wipro, in Bombay, following his father's sudden death . He was only 21, and Wipro was a $5 million company selling consumer produ cts. Today Wipro has a market capitalization of $10 billion and is engaged in several high-tech businesses, notably software services. More than half its sales come from exports, principally to the United States. Wipro's stoc k now trades on the Hew York Stock Exchange at a price-earnings multiple of 70 or more. Its customers: include several Fortune 500 companies for which it provides software support and R&D services. Wipro was the first company in the world to obtain CMM-Level 5 certification from Carnegie Mellon Univ ersity's Software Engineering Institute, the highest possible rating for a software development organization. Wipro is also renowned within India as a n ethical and professionally managed company. Azim Premji, 55, whose family still owns 84 percent of the company, embodie s the Wipro spirit. Known for his modesty and simple lifestyle (he still tr avels within India by economy class), Premji hats created a world-class com pany committed to excellence and high ethical standards. He shrugs off the fact that, with a net worth in the billions, he is the richest Indian, and for a time wars the third or fourth wealthiest person in the world. In 2000 he completed the course work necessary to earn his undergraduate degree fr om Stanford University.