New Delhi, March 14: Wipro Limited chairman and Indian business tycoon Azim Hashim Premji on Wednesday announced that he will give 34 per cent of shares in the company worth Rs 52,750 crore (7.5 billion dollars) to support philanthropic activities, taking his total commitment to an endowment to Rs 1,45,000 lakh crore (21 billion dollars). With this move, Premji has gained place alongside the world's most influential philanthropists including Bill Gates, George Soros and Warren Buffet.

The Azim Premji Foundation in a statement on Wednesday said, "With this action, the total value of the philanthropic endowment corpus contributed by Mr Premji is $21 billion, which includes 67% of economic ownership of Wipro." Tariq Premji Joins Board of Wipro Enterprises- Know All About the Younger Son of Azim Premji.

This makes Azim Premji Foundation one of the biggest foundation in the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, earlier known as 'William H. Gates Foundation', has investment assets of 40 billion dollars, and Ford Foundation has investments about 12 billion dollars. Forbes Billionaire List 2018: India Has The Third Highest Number Of Billionaires In The World, Mukesh Ambani Richest Indian.

Premji's foundation work mainly in three areas- subsiding students of Azim Premji University, improving standards of government school and supporting over 150 other not-for-profits in specific areas.

Notably, the 73-year-old was the first Indian to sign The Giving Pledge, charitable organisation, started by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, under which billionaires commit at least 50 per cent of their wealth to charity.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 14, 2019 01:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).