Wipro chairman Azim Premji has said that succession planning at Wipro is an ongoing activity and is strongly in place. He also said that the company does not have any policy on the retirement age for board members.
Addressing the annual general meeting of the company on Wednesday, Premji said the discussion on succession planning takes place at the board level twice a year. The Wipro chairman, as head of the promoter group, holds 73.44% stake in the company.
Premji, 69, holds the dual role of executive chairman at Wipro, the listed entity, and non-executive chairman in the unlisted Wipro Enterprises. These changes were effected after the demerger between the IT and non-IT businesses.
There has been talk about who would take over Premji?s role in Wipro following his retirement. His son Rishad Premji is the chief strategy officer at Wipro. However, there has been a categorical assertion by Premji in the past that his son will never become the chief executive officer of the company. Wipro had recently announced the resignation of three independent directors BC Prabhakar, Shyam Saran and Dr Henning Kagermann from its board.
Premji said that they are focused on profitable growth and enhancing shareholder value, adding that their market capitalisation grew by 25% in FY14. On Wednesday, the market capitalisation of Wipro stood at over R1.4 lakh crore.
