Nikesh Arora is an Indian-American business executive, previously held senior roles at Google and served as the president of SoftBank Group from October 2014 to June 2016. Since June 1, 2018, Arora has assumed the positions of CEO and chairman at Palo Alto Networks.
Bio/Wiki
Age- 55 years
Height- 170 cm
Weight-68kg
Born- 9 February 1968
Birthplace-Ghaziabad, India
Spouse-Ayesha Thapar (m. 2014)
Profession-Scientist, Business executive, CEO of Palo Alto Networks
Nationality- American
Ethnicity- Indian-American
Family
Nikesh Arora’s family hails from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Jagdish Kumar Arora, the father of Nikesh Arora, served as an officer in the Indian Air Force. While details about his mother are not available, she was a homemaker. Sadly, his father, passed away. He had been battling ALS and was undergoing treatment at a Gurugram Hospital.
Wife
Nikesh Arora first wife was Kiran, and they share a daughter. Nikesh Arora divorced his first wife, Kiran Arora, and entered into a second marriage with Ayesha Thappar. Ayesha owns and operates the restaurants Ettan and Copra in California, partnering with celebrity chef Srijith Gopinathan.
Education
Nikesh Arora, born to an Indian Air Force officer, received his early education at The Air Force School (Subroto Park). He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, BHU in Varanasi, India, with a bachelor of technology degree in electrical engineering in 1989. Arora also holds a degree from Boston College and earned an MBA from Northeastern University. He has held the CFA designation since 1999.
Career
Arora embarked on his career journey at Fidelity Investments in 1992, assuming various finance and technology management roles. His tenure culminated in the position of Vice President, Finance at Fidelity Technologies. In 2000, Arora founded T-Motion, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, focused on delivering value-added services for Deutsche Telekom’s 3G services.
Joining Google in 2004, Arora held several pivotal roles, including Vice President, Europe Operations (2004-2007), President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (2007-2009), and President of Global Sales Operations and Business Development (2009-2010). He served as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Google Inc. from January 2011 to July 2014.
In July 2014, Arora departed from Google, resigning from the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer. He then assumed the role of President and Chief Operating Officer at SoftBank Corp. from 2014 to 2016, earning a record-breaking compensation of over $200 million, a Japanese record at the time.
Arora also held the position of Chief Marketing Officer and a management board member at T-Mobile, Bharti Airtel, Europe. Additionally, he serves as a Trustee at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, California. Since 2007, Arora has been a Senior Advisor to Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm.
From 2001 to 2004, he served as the Chief Marketing Officer of the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG and was the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of T-Motion PLC, which later merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.
Net Worth 2024
As of 2024, Arora’s net worth is valued at $1.5 billion.
Latest News about Nikesh Arora
Nikesh Arora: Cybersecurity CEO Emerges as a Non-Founder Billionaire
The global billionaire club has a new member in its midst. Nikesh Arora, the CEO of cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, has achieved a net worth of $1.5 billion as of 2024, as reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday. Arora’s journey to billionaire status includes a notable stint as the president and COO of SoftBank, where his groundbreaking $135 million first-year compensation package in Japan set records, making him the highest-paid executive globally.
Arora’s continued presence at Palo Alto Networks and the company’s ongoing success suggest that he is likely to maintain his billionaire standing. His 2023 compensation package encompasses up to 750,000 stock awards, linked to specific performance benchmarks. Currently valued at $220 million, these awards were granted to Arora in recognition of his significant contributions to the company over his five-year tenure, allowing him to vest approximately $102 million in value each year, according to a proxy statement from Palo Alto Networks shared with Bloomberg. This achievement is remarkable, not just for its financial magnitude but also because it positions Arora as one of the rare non-founder tech CEOs to attain billionaire status.
“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 company said.
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