Wikipedia

Nikesh Arora

Nikesh Arora (born February 9, 1968)[2] is an Indian-American business executive. He has been the chairman and chief executive officer of the American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks since June 2018.[3] Arora was formerly a senior executive at Google[4] and president of SoftBank Group from October 2014 to June 2016. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth was estimated at $1.5 billion in early 2024.[5]

Nikesh Arora
Arora in 2015
Born (1968-02-09) February 9, 1968 (age 56)
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
CitizenshipUnited States[1]
EducationCFA
Alma materIIT (BHU) Varanasi (BTech)
Boston College (MS)
Northeastern University (MBA)
Occupation(s)CEO and chairman of Palo Alto Networks
Spouse
Ayesha Thapar
​
(m. 2014)​
Children2
FamilyThapar family (by marriage)

Early life

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Born to an Indian Air Force officer,[6] Arora completed his schooling at The Air Force School,[7] and went on to graduate from Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (presently IIT (BHU)) in Varanasi, India, with a Bachelors in Engineering in Electrical Engineering in 1989.[8] He holds a M.S. degree in Finance from Boston College and an MBA from Northeastern University. He has held the CFA designation since 1999.[8]

Career

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T-Motion PLC

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In 2000, Arora established T-Motion, a subsidiary within Deutsche Telekom, "providing value-added services to the 3G Services of Deutsche Telekom." A few years after, in 2002, T-Motion was integrated into T-Mobile's core services.[citation needed][9]

Google

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Arora joined Google in 2004.[10] He held multiple senior operating leadership roles at Google, as vice president, Europe operations from 2004 to 2007, president Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2007 to 2009, and president, global sales operations and business development from 2009 to 2010.[11] He was senior vice president and chief business officer of Google Inc. (Google) since January 2011 until July 2014.[citation needed]

He left Google in July 2014 resigning from the post of senior vice president and chief business officer.[12][13]

SoftBank Corp.

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Arora was president and chief operating officer of SoftBank Corp. from 2014 to 2016[12][13] receiving total compensation over $200 million,[14] a Japanese record at the time.[15]

Palo Alto Networks

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In June 2018, Arora became the CEO and chairman of Palo Alto Networks.[3]

In 2023, Arora's total compensation from Palo Alto Networks was $151.4 million, up 1,355% from the previous year and representing a CEO-to-median worker pay ratio of 735-to-1 for the company, as well as making Arora the fourth highest paid CEO in the US that year.[16]

Other experiences

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Arora was chief marketing officer and a member of the management board at T-Mobile, Bharti Airtel, Europe[17] and serves as a Trustee at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, California.[18]

Since 2007, Arora has been a senior advisor to Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm.[19]

From 2001 to 2004, he was chief marketing officer of the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. He was chief executive officer and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.[citation needed]

Arora began his career at Fidelity Investments in 1992, holding a variety of finance and technology management positions, ultimately serving as vice president, finance of Fidelity Technologies.[20]

Arora has also worked for Deutsche Telekom, Putnam Investments, Fidelity Investments.[21]

He has also been a board member of Sprint Corporation, Colgate-Palmolive and Yahoo! Japan.[22]

Personal life

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Arora has a daughter from his first marriage.[23] His second marriage was to Ayesha Thapar, an Indian industrial heiress, in 2014.[24] They have a son and a daughter.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Nikesh Arora: From being jobless to getting the world's best jobs!".
  2. ^ Waters, Richard (May 20, 2012). "Happy to be a bit more 'un-Googley'". Financial Times.
  3. ^ a b "Palo Alto Networks Announces Record Revenues and Billings and Board Appoints Nikesh Arora as CEO and Chairman – Palo Alto Networks". www.paloaltonetworks.com.
  4. ^ Harner, Stephen. "SoftBank's Masayoshi Son 'Bets The Ranch' On Nikesh Arora". Forbes.
  5. ^ Maloney, Tom (January 3, 2024). "SoftBank Veteran Is a Billionaire After Another Huge Payday". Bloomberg News.
  6. ^ Chanchani, Madhav. "nikesh_arora's_father_passes_away". The Economic Times. ET Bureau. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  7. ^ "Six_things_to_know_about_Nikesh_Arora". Business Today. June 21, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Management team". Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  9. ^ Hiltzik, Michael (June 26, 2020). "Column: With its Sprint merger in the bag, T-Mobile is already backing away from its promises". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  10. ^ Hof, Robert (July 17, 2014). "Google Management Surprise: Longtime Sales Chief Nikesh Arora Leaves For SoftBank". Forbes.
  11. ^ Asthana, Shishir (July 19, 2014). "5 things to know about Nikesh Arora". Business Standard India. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Hof, Robert. "Google Management Surprise: Longtime Sales Chief Nikesh Arora Leaves For SoftBank". Forbes.
  13. ^ a b "Nikesh Arora to join SoftBank as Vice Chairman, SoftBank Corp. and CEO of the newly formed SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. – Press Releases – News – About Us – SoftBank Group". Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  14. ^ "SoftBank's long-term plan abruptly cut short". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016.
  15. ^ McCombs, Dave (June 22, 2015). "SoftBank Sets Pay Record With $135 Million Pay for Arora". Bloomberg.
  16. ^ Paradis, Tim (June 18, 2024). "Here are the highest-paid CEOs in the US, some of whom have 9-figure compensation packages". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Charny, Ben. "T-Mobile to cut wireless-data prices". CNET. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  18. ^ "Board of Trustees Page". Index. Paley Center for Media. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  19. ^ "Mobile Advisors". www.silverlake.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  20. ^ "Forbes profile". Archived from the original on January 30, 2014.
  21. ^ Asthana, Shishir (July 19, 2014). "5 things to know about Nikesh Arora". Business Standard India. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  22. ^ "Once Google's highest paid executive, how Nikesh Arora became a billionaire". The Indian Express. January 4, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "SoftBank's Nikesh Arora and wife Ayesha Thapar had their first child early this month". The Economic Times. June 17, 2015.
  24. ^ Crabtree, James (June 22, 2016). "Lunch with the FT: Nikesh Arora". Financial Times.
 
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