When The Wall Road Journal launched its 2023 rankings of the highest-paid CEOs, among the many high earners was Nikesh Arora, the Indian-origin CEO of Palo Alto Networks, who secured the second spot with a complete compensation of $151.43 million. His earnings considerably surpassed these of main tech leaders, together with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who earned $24.40 million, and Google’s Sundar Pichai, who acquired $8.8 million.
In an in depth and candid dialog with People of Bombay, Arora opened up concerning the struggles and turning factors that formed his journey—from humble beginnings in Ghaziabad to main one of many world’s high cybersecurity companies.
Humble Beginnings in India
Arora’s journey to the highest of the tech trade started in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, the place he was raised in a disciplined family formed by his father’s profession within the Indian Air Pressure. His upbringing, marked by frequent relocations, instilled a deep sense of adaptability and integrity in him from an early age. After ending faculty at The Air Pressure Faculty, he pursued engineering at IIT-BHU.
Regardless of monetary limitations, Arora set his sights on the US for additional research. With solely $100 (round Rs 1700 in 1990) in hand, he utilized to universities that waived software charges. Bostons’ Northeastern College granted him a scholarship in 1990 and even supplied him the possibility to show laptop science—one thing he rapidly needed to be taught to simply accept the provide.
Profession Struggles and Breakthrough
After graduating, Arora confronted a frightening section—rejected over 400 instances by varied corporations. He stored each rejection letter, utilizing them as motivation. His breakthrough got here in 1992 when he landed a job at Constancy Investments. Ranging from entry-level positions, he labored his means as much as grow to be Vice President at Constancy Applied sciences.He later earned each an M.S. in Finance and a CFA certification, which considerably broadened his profession choices. Instructing a CFA course finally related him to a chance at Google.
At Google and SoftBank
Arora joined Google in 2004, just a few months after its IPO. Over the following decade, he performed a key position in rising its revenues from $2 billion to over $60 billion. Describing it as “like being in a rocket ship,” Arora left in 2014 searching for a brand new problem.
That problem got here at SoftBank, the place he served as President and COO. His time there introduced vital learnings, together with the significance of realizing when to stroll away from underperforming investments—one thing he utilized whereas selecting to not again WeWork. Arora finally exited SoftBank in 2016 when CEO Masayoshi Son postponed his deliberate retirement.
Main Palo Alto Networks
In 2018, after a sabbatical spent making an attempt (and failing) to enhance at golf, Arora took over as CEO of Palo Alto Networks. On the time, the corporate was valued at $18 billion. Beneath his management, it has grown to over $100 billion, pushed by a strategic push towards cloud safety and synthetic intelligence.
Arora credit this success to early adoption of rising applied sciences and a willingness to accumulate or companion when inside growth wasn’t possible. His give attention to innovation has stored Palo Alto aggressive in an more and more complicated cybersecurity panorama.
On AI and India’s Alternative
Arora has spoken about how shortage in his youth formed his resourcefulness and strategy to management. He sees AI as a transformative power and believes India’s power lies in adapting international applied sciences to native contexts. In response to him, actual worth in AI will come from localised knowledge and domain-specific data—areas the place Indian corporations have a pure benefit.
Arora’s story—marked by rejection, resilience, and reinvention—continues to resonate, particularly in India. His rise exhibits that success doesn’t at all times comply with a linear path. As he informed People of Bombay, “No person likes rejection… However a part of rising up in India is believing in future. It helps you rationalise failure. All the pieces occurs for a cause.”
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