Palo Alto Networks Inc. CEO Nikesh Arora, pictured above
| Photo Credit: Palo Alto Networks Inc. website
American multinational cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks Inc.âs CEO Nikesh Arora was one of the highest paid CEOs in terms of disclosed executive compensation in the fiscal year of 2023, earning $151,425,203, according to a report by C-Suite Comp.
He is the highest paid Indian-American CEO in the list, per the data. At the top of the list was Jon Wikelried of Tpg Inc. in the finances sector, with a recorded compensation of $198,685,926.
Compensation does not necessarily refer to the CEOâs salary alone, but also takes into consideration other benefits and privileges they might be receiving as part of their individual contracts.
Arora joined Palo Alto Networks as its chairman and CEO in June 2018, after serving at SoftBank. He also spent around 10 years at Google, as a senior vice president and chief business officer, among other roles. Arora holds an M.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University, an M.S. in finance from Boston College, and a B.Tech. in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.
In terms of compensation actually paid last year, however, the top earner was Tesla head Elon Musk, with compensation of around $1.4 billion, while Arora was at the bottom of the top ten list, with $266.4 million reported, per CNBC.