Who Is Nikesh Arora?: The Only Indian-American Among The Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs In US

Silicon Valley, located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California and home to the headquarters of many of the worlds largest and most influential technological companies, is also a place many Indian-origin executives have also emerged to prominence. Among many other name, one name that currently that stands out prominently this year is of Nikesh Arora.

Who is Nikesh Arora?

Nikesh Arora is the CEO and chairman of Palo Alto Networks and has secured his place among the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the United States.

He is also the only Indian-American to make in this list of top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the US, as per the latest report by data analytics firm C-Suite Comp.

The report released two distinctive lists. One is based on the 'total compensation granted' in 2023 and the other on the 'compensation actually paid'

This Indian American CEO made headlines by appearing on both the lists and ranked fourth on the on the list of 'Highest Earning CEOs by Total Compensation Granted in 2023' with earnings amounting to USD 151.4 million

Furthermore, he also secured the tenth spot on the list of 'Highest Earning CEOs by Compensation Actually Paid in 2023,' with an whopping annual compensation of USD 266.4 million.

About his educational journey

Arora was born to an Indian Air Force officer and completed his schooling at the Air Force Public School in Delhi.

He then pursued a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (now IIT-BHU and completed MBA from Northeastern University and an MSc from Boston College. He then later worked decade at Google, holding senior leadership roles. He later resigned from Google to join SoftBank Group as its president and chief operating officer.

In 2018, Nikesh Arora took the helm at Palo Alto Networks as CEO.

Who are the Highest Paid CEOs by Compensation Actually Paid in 2023

The list includes:

1. Elon Musk (Tesla) - USD 1.4 billion

2. Alexander Karp (Palantir Technologies) - USD 1.1 billion

3. Hock Tan (Broadcom) - USD 767.7 million

4. Brian Armstrong (Coinbase Global) - USD 680.9 million

5. Safra Catz (Oracle) - USD 304.1 million

6. Brian Chesky (Airbnb) - USD 303.5 million

7. Jon Winkelried (TPG) - USD 295.1 million

8. Jeff Green (Trade Desk) - USD 291.7 million

9. Adam Foroughi (Applovin) - USD 271.3 million

10. Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks) - USD 266.4 million