Who is Nikesh Arora, IIT-graduate who just became a billionaire
Nikesh Arora, the CEO of cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, has entered the billionaires' club after a hefty paycheck he received from the firm. The 55-year-old's feat is quite rare as there are only a few non-founder billionaire tech CEOs in the world. Palo Alto Networks handed Arora a $125 million stock and options compensation package when he was hired in 2018. Since then its share price has more than quadrupled. Arora's stake is now worth $830 million.
Leadership at Palo Alto Networks
Under Arora's leadership, Palo Alto Networks has flourished amidst surging demand for cybersecurity solutions driven by recent hacking incidents in casinos, ports, and even treasury markets. When combining his $830 million stake with the enormous pay awards he secured earlier in his career, Arora's net worth stands at $1.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Early life and education
Hailing from Ghaziabad near Delhi, Arora completed his schooling at the Air Force School before earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), BHU. He then headed to the US for higher education, obtaining an MBA from Northeastern University and a Master of Science in Finance from Boston College. Since 1999, Arora has held the CFA designation, demonstrating his solid expertise in finance and technology.
Career path and compensation packages
Arora's career began at Fidelity Investments in 1992, where he took on various finance and technology management roles, eventually becoming Vice President of Finance at Fidelity Technologies. He later worked at T-Motion before joining Google, where he received a compensation package valued at around $51 million in 2012 and stock awards worth at least $200 million by the time he left. In 2014, Arora joined SoftBank Group with a record-breaking first-year compensation package of $135 million in Japan.
Achievements and future prospects
Thanks to his remarkable career path and generous compensation packages, Arora has become a billionaire tech CEO. In 2023, he sold close to $300 million in shares from options he received when joining Palo Alto Networks. His 2023 compensation involves up to 750,000 stock awards, worth over $220 million if specific performance targets are met. Arora is set to further grow his wealth at Palo Alto Networks.
