From the Editor in Chief


	March 6, 2000

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If a businessman lost a few thousand crores in a few days, you'd probably find him in intensive care. Not Wipro Chairman Azim Premji. He in fact feels relieved. He finds that being the richest Indian ever and 75 per cent owner of India's most valuable company means "expectations are very high". But then everything about Premji is unusual. So last week when his personal worth decreased from Rs 1,64,832 crore to Rs 1,28,671 crore in just four days because of a drop in share value, he barely batted an eyelid.
Premji, who abhors publicity, personifies the reluctant billionaire. While many people crave to be on our cover, he pleaded not to be on it. He was making a point: Wipro has not been built by one man's sweat but by an entire team. (We solved the problem by shooting him in Bangalore with his team).
He is a man shaped by strong values. Unlike the cliched image of the Indian businessman and his sharp practices, Premji is bound by honesty. And stories of his unflinching integrity are legion. When an employee travelled second class by train but claimed first-class fare he was dismissed.

It is not just his individual accomplishments that led us to put him on our cover this week. Premji's success is also an Indian achievement. Enormous wealth is the expected by-product of powerful economies like Japan and the US. So there is something to cheer about when the Indian economy can create this sort of value in one person.
Expectedly, it took much persuasion before the shy Premji sat down for an exclusive interview with Senior Assistant Editor Rohit Saran. Meanwhile, Principal Correspondent Stephen David met with his team in Bangalore and Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar spoke to stock-market experts in Mumbai. Says David: "Most billionaires believe that whoever has the maximum toys wins. Not this man, frugality and modesty are his trademarks."
Premji's wealth has inflated, but not his ego.

(Aroon Purie)

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