HarperCollins is delighted to announce that it will be publishing the first authoritative biography of the business icon. Azim Premji – The Man Beyond the Billions by Sundeep Khanna and Varun Sood
The Book
For over five decades, Azim Hasham Premji has been one of the trailblazers of India Inc. Taking over his family business of vegetable oils at the young age of twenty-one after the untimely demise of his father, he has built one of India’s most successful software companies along with a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. As of 2019, he was the tenth richest person in India with an estimated net worth of $7.2 billion. Yet, the one facet of the man who turns seventy-five today, and which has overshadowed even his business achievements is his altruism. His commitment to the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit focused on education, totals around $21 billion, making him one of the world’s top philanthropists.
Azim Premji: The Man Beyond the Billions, the first authoritative biography of the icon, argues that Premji was a philanthropist at heart and a businessman by choice – a man who wanted to give away his billions but realized early enough that he would first have to earn them. It peels the layers off Premji’s life while chronicling his professional and charitable work in the context of his many strengths and shortcomings.
Based on interviews with hundreds of executives who have over the years worked closely with him as well as with competitors, analysts, family friends and industry associates, this is a journalist’s account of Premji, the man, the businessman and the philanthropist.
Publisher Krishan Chopra says, “There are some people whose achievements go beyond the normal parameters of success—wealth, power, influence, the size of their empires. Azim Premji is one such. His example of trying to improve the lives of thousands of others shines like a beacon in what is often a grim scenario. Azim Premji: The Man beyond the Billions is an important book for us. We hope the story will inspire many more.”
Author Sundeep Khanna says, “Azim Premji has led his life with honesty and grace. His incredible success is merely a natural consequence of that. If we have been able to capture that in this book, we would have done our job.”
Author Varun Sood says, “As a journalist, chronicling Azim Premji’s journey has been a learning experience and a real delight.”
About The Authors
Sundeep Khanna is a regular columnist for Money Control as well as The Morning Context, a subscription-only business news outlet. In a journalism career spanning thirty years, he has been a senior editor at publications like Business Today and Financial Express before retiring last year as Executive Editor of Mint.
Varun Sood is currently deputy business editor at The Morning Context. Earlier, he was a National Editor in charge of breaking stories at Mint. He is a Bengaluru-based technology journalist who started his career with Business Standard and in the last fourteen years has worked with a number of publications, including the Financial Times and Economic Times.
The Book Releases on October 29th
