Nikesh Arora, Tech CEO of Palo Alto Networks and a Delhi’s Air Force Public School alumnus, clinched the number two position with an eye-popping total compensation of $151.43 million, predominantly sourced from stock options. Arora’s rise to prominence began during his tenure as Google’s chief business officer, and since 2018, he has been at the helm of Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity firm.
Following closely behind Tech CEO Nikesh Arora is Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, who secured the 11th spot on the list with earnings of $44.93 million. Narayen, hailing from India, has been a driving force behind Adobe’s success.
Interestingly, tech titans like Elon Musk of Tesla and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, both of Indian descent, opted for unconventional compensation structures in 2023. While Musk reported no compensation, Pichai earned a relatively modest $8.80 million. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta fell in between with earnings of $24.40 million.
The overall list was topped by Hock Tan of Broadcom, who raked in a staggering $162 million. Notably, several other Indian-American CEOs made significant appearances, including Sanjay Malhotra of Micron Technology, Ajei Gopal of Ansys, and Reshma Kewalramani of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, all ranking within the top 120.
The report also underscored the achievements of Indian-descent leaders across various industries, including Arvind Krishna of IBM, Badrinarayanan Kothandaraman of Enphase Energy, Sanjiv Lamba of Linde, and many more.
As Indian-origin executives continue to excel on the global stage, their contributions to the corporate landscape are reshaping perceptions and driving innovation in diverse sectors.
