The world often wonders what makes overseas Indians secure seats in the C-suite of global conglomerates, earn big paychecks, and eventually, become billionaires. Various interpretations and views are boiled down to the inference that they were raised to be disciplined and dedicated during their journey from humble beginnings to mighty goals. This is also true about Indian American Nikesh Arora, who recently inducted himself into the club of billionaire CEOs.
Billionaire Nikesh Arora is the CEO and Chairman of Palo Alto Networks, a leading cybersecurity MNC headquartered in California. The $125 million stock and options that he received after joining Palo Alto in June 2018 has more than quadrupled to $830 million, riding the back of a huge demand for cybersecurity software solutions that boomed in the wake of high-profile hacking events in various industries, according to a Bloomberg report.
PC: IIT BHU, Varanasi
Combined with his investments and previous remunerations, the current worth of his enviable stake in Palo Alto Networks catapulted him into the elite club of billionaire tech leaders. Precisely, Nikesh Arora’s net worth is $1.5 billion, which places him beside Alphabet Inc.’s CEO Sundar Pichai and among the richest Indian Americans. His ‘lady luck’ at Palo Alto continues to run high as he is entitled to 750,000 stock awards as part of his compensation in 2023, as far as his performance is concerned.
The current value of the above award stock would probably stand at over $220 million. “Because of this significant vested ownership and the amount that Mr. Arora was projected to vest in over the next several years, the Board determined that a meaningful equity award would be necessary to ensure that such award retains and engages Mr. Arora,” the Bloomberg report adds.
Nikesh Arora’s impressive journey had no rosy start
CEO Nikesh Arora’s epic journey from rejections to survival with a few hundred dollars to the American C-suite is one of discipline, determination, and dedication. Obviously, he did not have a rosy start back home (India). Born to an officer in the Indian Air Force, Mr Arora had a disciplined upbringing, which played an important role in charting the course of his life and career, starting from a B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT BHU, Varanasi.
Driven by his passion for technology and business, he travelled to the United States in 1989. He earned an MS in finance from Boston College and an MBA degree from Northeastern University, strengthening his business acumen in the tech industry. His profound knowledge of finance and international business in the ever-changing tech landscape shaped and pushed his career through ranks at Google and Softbank during the dot-com period and in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession.
Nikesh Arora – Google’s highest paid C-suite executive in 2012
His decade-long epic career at Google started with his role of leading the search giant’s European operations from 2004 until 2017. The back-to-back senior leadership roles accelerated his rise to becoming the chief business officer – the fourth important player in Google’s core leadership team comprising Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt. He explored new markets and partnerships for Google’s advertisement verticals including display ads. His astute business strategies attracted scores of advertisers for YouTube’s revenue growth 10 years before Indian American Neal Mohan became CEO of Google’s video sharing platform in early 2023.
In 2013, Nikesh Arora became a popular face on the cover page of leading business magazines as Google’s highest-paid key executive with a compensation package of nearly $58 million in cash and stock. After pushing the envelope of Google’s advertisement business until 2014, he joined Softbank Group as President in quest of bigger challenges and responsibilities. He created history by having become the first Indian-origin President on the board of Softbank Group. Today’s billionaire Arora led Softbank’s investments in India’s tech startups including Ola Cabs, Oyo Rooms, Grofers, Snapdeal, and Housing.com.
He is more known as a business leader and investor than a globetrotter. Few Silicon Valley professionals know that he is an avid traveler with his diary crammed with moments of business class travel to more than 60 countries. He has many miles to go as both a leader and a traveler.