Explore these 7 truths about HIGHEST PAID CEO Nikesh Arora

Who is Nikesh Arora?

The Indian-origin CEO of Palo Alto Network, Nikesh Arora, came second on the list of highest paid CEOs in the US in 2023 released by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. He has a whooping compensation of $151.43 million surpassing high profile tech executives like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Early life and education

Born in Ghaziabad, Nikesh Arora finished his elementary schooling at Delhis Air Force Public School before graduating from IIT-BHU with a Bachelor of Technology (B Tech) in Electrical Engineering.

Leading stalwart

He began his career with Fidelity Investments in 1992, and later become the Vice President of Fidelity Technologies. His entrepreneurial zeal drove him to form T-Motion in 2000, a Deutsche Telekom company that was subsequently integrated into T-Mobiles core services. Arora joined Google in 2004 and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually holding several top leadership positions.

Professional achievements

Nikesh Arora the CEO of multi-billion dollar cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks. He became the highest paid executive at Google in 2012 when the company hired him at a package of $51 million package. While his work at Softbank Group, he set a new record in Japan with first year compensation package of $135 million.

Personal life

Nikesh Arora is married to Ayesha Thapar, Delhis top style diva, and restaurateur. She is the founder and creator of Ettan and Copra Restaurant along with Chef/Partner Srijith Gopinathan. Raised in Delhi, Thapar is a Wellesley College graduate in economics.

Net worth

Nikesh Arora made headlines throughout the world a few months ago when he became the rare person to join the billionaires club. Nikesh Arora, with a net worth of more than Rs 12495 crore, is one of the worlds few non-founder billionaire software CEOs.

Indian-origin CEOs remarkable performance

The report has highlighted high presence of Indian descent executives among high earners who have solidified Indias position in this global list. A total 17 made to the 500, with Shantanu Narayen of Adobe ranking behind Arora at number 11. Others include, Sanjay Malhotra, Ajei Gopal and more.