Nikesh Arora Surpasses Sundar Pichai And Satya Nadella As Highest-Paid Indian-Origin CEO In The US
Nikesh Arora Surpasses Sundar Pichai And Satya Nadella As Highest-Paid Indian-Origin CEO In The US
June 27, 2024
Despite the many Indian-origin executives in Silicon Valley, only one Indian-American is among the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the US – and it’s not Sundar Pichai or Satya Nadella.
Two lists of the highest-paid CEOs in 2023 were released: “total compensation granted” and “compensation actually paid.” Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella did not appear on either list. However, Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks ranked fourth in “total compensation granted” with $151.4 million and tenth in “compensation actually paid” with $266.4 million. Elon Musk topped both lists with $1.4 billion in 2023, followed by Alexander Karp of Palantir Technologies, who earned $1.1 billion.
Nikesh Arora became CEO of Palo Alto Networks in 2018. Born to an Indian Air Force officer, he studied at Air Force Public School in Delhi, earned a Bachelor’s in electrical engineering from IIT-BHU, an MBA from Northeastern University, and an MSc from Boston College. His career includes senior roles at Google, president and COO of SoftBank Group, and positions at T-Mobile and Bharti Airtel. He is married to Ayesha Thapar, daughter of Business Elite, Karam Chand Thapar.
Highest Paying CEOs by ‘Compensation Actually Paid’
- Elon Musk, Tesla- $ 1.4 billion
- Alexander Karp, Palantir Technologies- $1.1 billion
- Hock Tan, Broadcom – $767.7 million
- Brain Armstrong, Coinbase Global- $680.9 million
- Safra Catz, Oracle- $304.1 million
- Brain Chesky, Airbnb- $303.5 million
- Jon Winkelried, Tpg – $ 295.1 million
- Jeff Green, Trade Desk- $ 291.7 million
- Adam Foroughi, Applovin- $ 271.3 million
- Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks- $ 266.4 million
