Nikesh Arora (born February 9, 1968) is an
Indian-American
Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...
business executive.
Arora was formerly a senior executive at
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
. He served as the president of
SoftBank Group
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
from October 2014 to June 2016. On June 1, 2018, Arora took on the role of
CEO and chairman at
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is an American multinational cybersecurity company with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The core products is a platform that includes advanced firewalls and cloud-based offerings that extend those firewalls to ...
.
Education
Born to an
Indian Air Force officer,
Arora completed his schooling from
The Air Force School (Subroto Park)
The Air Force School (TAFS), formerly known as Air Force Central School (AFCS), was set up primarily to provide education to the children of Indian Air Force personnel.
It was founded in 1955 by the Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee, the Chief of ...
,
and went on to graduate from
Indian Institute of Technology, BHU in
Varanasi, India
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tr ...
, with a Bachelor of Technology degree in
electrical engineering in 1989.
He holds a degree from
Boston College and an MBA from
Northeastern University. He has held the
CFA designation since 1999.
Professional career
T-Motion PLC
In 2000, Arora established T-Motion, a subsidiary within Deutsche Telekom, "providing value-added services to the 3G Services of Deutsche Telekom." A few years after, in 2002, T-Motion was integrated into T-Mobile's core services.
Google
Arora joined Google in 2004. He held multiple senior operating leadership roles at
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
, serving as vice president, Europe operations from 2004 to 2007, president Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2007 to 2009, and president, global sales operations and business development from 2009 to 2010. He was senior vice president and chief business officer of Google Inc. (Google) since January 2011 until July 2014.
He left
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
in July 2014 resigning from the post of
senior vice president and chief business officer.
[
]
SoftBank Corp.
As president and chief operating officer of SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
Corp. Arora received over $200 million in compensation over the last two years" while at the head of Softbank's operations. This pay package made him the world's highest paid executive.
Other experiences
Arora worked as chief marketing officer and as a Member of the management board at T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...
, Bharti Airtel, Europe and serves as a Trustee at the Paley Center for Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...
in Los Angeles, California.
Since 2007, Arora has also served as a senior advisor to Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm.
From 2001 to 2004, he served as chief marketing officer of the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. He was chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
and founder of T-Motion PLC, which merged with T-Mobile International in 2002.
Arora began his career at Fidelity Investments in 1992, holding a variety of finance and technology management positions, ultimately serving as vice president, finance of Fidelity Technologies.
Nikesh Arora worked for Deutsche Telekom, Putnam Investments
Putnam Investments is a privately owned investment management firm founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds, The George Putnam Fund of Boston. As one of the oldest mutual fund complexes in the Unite ...
, Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is o ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arora, Nikesh
Google employees
SoftBank people
Living people
Banaras Hindu University alumni
Boston College alumni
Northeastern University alumni
CFA charterholders
1968 births
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
Indian emigrants to the United States
American people of Indian descent
American computer businesspeople
Chief executives in the technology industry
American chief executives
American technology chief executives
Computer networking people
Thapar family