Wipro Limited (formerly, Western India Palm Refined Oils Limited) is an Indian

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

that provides

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

, consulting and

business process A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...

services. Thierry Delaporte is serving as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and managing director of Wipro since July 2020. Wipro's capabilities range across

cloud computing Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mul ...

, cyber security,

digital transformation Digital transformation is the adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize non-digital products, services or operations. The goal for its implementation is to increase value through innovation, invention, customer experience or ef ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

, data analytics, and other technology consulting services to customers in 167 countries.

History of Wipro

Early years

The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945 in

Amalner Amalner is a town and a municipal council in Jalgaon district in the state of Maharashtra, India, situated on the bank of the Bori River. Amalner is the birthplace of the Wipro company, which started business by producing vanaspati ghee from su ...

, India, by Mohamed Premji as Western India Vegetable Products Limited, later abbreviated to Wipro. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of vegetable and refined oils under the

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

s of Kisan, Sunflower, and Camel. In 1966, after Mohamed Premji's death, his son Azim Premji took over Wipro as its

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

at the age of 21.

Shift to IT Industry

During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus to new opportunities in the IT and computing industry, which was at a nascent stage in India at the time. On 7 June 1977, the name of the company changed from Western India Vegetable Products Limited, to Wipro Products Limited. In 1982, the name was changed again, from Wipro Products Limited to Wipro Limited. In 1999, Wipro was listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. In 2004, Wipro became the second Indian IT company to earn $1 billion in annual revenue. In 2012, Wipro

demerged A demerger is a form of corporate restructuring in which the entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components. It is the converse of a merger or acquisition. A demerger can take place through a spin-off by distributed or ...

its non-IT businesses into a separate company called Wipro Enterprises. Prior to this demerger, these businesses, mainly in the consumer care, lighting, furniture, hydraulics, water treatment, and medical diagnostics, contributed about 10% of Wipro's total revenues. In August 2018, Wipro paid US$75m to National Grid US as a settlement for a botched SAP implementation that an 2014 audit estimated could cost the company US$1 billion. Wipro had been hired as systems integrator in 2010, but errors in the rollout, intended to replace an Oracle system, caused serious losses and reputational damage. In March 2020, Hedera announced that Wipro would be joining their Governing Council, providing decentralized governance to its  hashgraph distributed ledger technology.

Notable acquisitions

In 2006, Wipro acquired

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based technology company cMango in an all cash deal. In 2012, Wipro acquired Australian analytics company, Promax Applications Group for A$35 million in an all cash deal. In 2015, Wipro acquired Denmark-based design consultancy

Designit Designit (imperative mood, meaning 'design it' and pronounced 'dɪˈzʌɪn ɪt') is an international strategic design firm founded in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1991 by Anders Geert Jensen and Mikal Hallstrup. In 1994, David Fellah joined the company as e ...

for €85 million. In 2016, Wipro acquired cloud services consultancy Appirio for $500M. In April 2019, Wipro acquired Filipino personal care company

Splash Corporation Splash Corporation is a Philippines, Filipino personal care company based in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. It is a subsidiary of Wipro Enterprises. Brands Current brands * Flawlessly U (formerly Extract) * Hygienix * Kolours * Maxi-Peel * Sha ...

. In February 2020, Wipro acquired Rational Interaction, a Seattle-based digital customer experience consultancy. In March 2021, Wipro acquired

Capco Capco is a business and technology management consultancy owned by Wipro, operating primarily in the financial services and energy sectors. Capco's operational headquarters are in London, England, with 32 offices across the Americas, Europe, and ...

, a 22-year-old global technology and management consultancy specializing in driving digital transformation in the financial services industry. The deal was completed in April. Wipro has signed an agreement to acquire Ampion for a cash consideration of $117 million, according to an exchange filing. In December 2021, Wipro signed a definitive agreement to acquire LeanSwift, a system integrator of Infor products for customers across the Americas and Europe. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close before the end of the quarter ending March 31, 2022, Wipro stated in a BSE filing. In April 2022, Wipro signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Stamford-headquartered Systems Applications and Products (SAP) consulting company, Rizing Intermediate Holdings.

Sustainability

Wipro has committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2040, with an intermittent goal of reducing emissions 55% by 2030. In October 2021, Wipro's Net Zero plans were certified by the Science-based Targets Initiative.

Listing and shareholding

Listing: Wipro's initial public offering was in 1946. Wipro's equity shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index, and the

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange under the ownership of various group of domestic and global financial institutions, public and privately owned entities and individuals. It is located in Mumbai, Mah ...

where it is a constituent of the S&P CNX Nifty. The American Depositary Shares of the company are listed at the

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...

since October 2000. Shareholding: The table provides the share holding pattern as of 31 March 2022.

Employees

On 6 July 2020,

Thierry Delaporte Thierry is a French male given name, derived from the Germanic "Theodoric". It is the cognate of German " Dietrich" and " Dieter", English Terry, Derek and Derrick, and of various forms in other European languages. It is also a surname. People wi ...

took over from

Abidali Neemuchwala Abidali Neemuchwala (born 8 December 1967) is an Indian business executive. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of Wipro from February 2016 to June 2020. On 31 January 2020, Wipro announced that he would be steppi ...

as the new CEO of Wipro. Abidali Neemuchwala was appointed as Wipro's CEO after

T. K. Kurien T. K. Kurien is an Indian chartered accountant and business executive. Kurien is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Premji Invest, a venture capital company set up by Azim Premji. Prior to that he was the Executive Vice Chairman ...

stepped down in early 2016. Neemuchwala, who had been group president and CEO from April 2015, was appointed CEO with effect from 1 February 2016. In 2022, Wipro fired 300 employees who were moonlighting for competitors.

Awards and recognitions

* It received the National award for excellence in

Corporate Governance Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions th ...

from the

Institute of Company Secretaries of India The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is a premier national professional body in India under the ownership of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India with the objective of promoting, regulating and developing the profe ...

during the year 2004. * Wipro honored as 2010 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year Award for India. * Wipro received the ' NASSCOM Corporate Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, 2012', in the category 'Most Effective Implementation of Practices & Technology for

Persons with Disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

'. * Wipro was ranked second in the Newsweek 2012 Global 500 Green companies. * In 2014, Wipro was ranked 52nd among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory. * Wipro won seven awards, including Best Managed IT Services and Best System Integrator in the CIO Choice Awards 2015, India * Wipro won Gold Award for ‘Integrated Security Assurance Service (iSAS)’ under the ‘Vulnerability Assessment, Remediation and Management’ category of the 11th Annual 2015 Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards. * In May 2016, it was ranked 755th on the

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by ''Forbes'' magazine. "The Global 2000" annual ranking is assembled by ''Forbes'' using a weighted assessment of four metrics: sales, profi ...

list. * In March 2017, Wipro was recognized as one of the world's most ethical companies by US-based Ethisphere Institute for the sixth consecutive year. * In 2018, Wipro received ATD's Best of the BEST Award. * In 2021 Wipro awarded boomi worldwide spotlight award

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Consulting firms established in 1945 Business services companies established in 1945 Conglomerate companies established in 1945 Software companies of India Outsourcing companies Personal care companies Business process outsourcing companies of India Companies based in Bangalore International information technology consulting firms Information technology consulting firms of India NIFTY 50 Business process outsourcing companies Outsourcing in India Computer companies of India Information technology companies of Bhubaneswar Indian brands Indian companies established in 1945 Companies based in Karnataka Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange