Nikesh Arora, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, has been named the highest-paid Indian-origin tech CEO in the United States, surpassing renowned executives like Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella. Arora’s total compensation for 2023 was over $266.4 million, securing him a spot among the top ten highest-paid CEOs in the country.

Despite leading some of the world’s most successful tech companies, neither Google’s Sundar Pichai nor Microsoft’s Satya Nadella made it to the list. Instead, Nikesh Arora emerged as the sole Indian-origin executive in the top ten, highlighting his significant earnings.

Arora’s Background
Arora is an alumnus of Delhi’s Air Force Public School and previously served as Google’s chief business officer. After leaving Google in 2014, he led SoftBank in Japan before taking the helm at Palo Alto Networks in 2018, a leading cybersecurity firm.

Top Earners
The list, compiled by C-Suite Comp, is topped by Tesla’s Elon Musk, who earned over $1.4 billion in 2023. Following Musk are Alexander Karp of Palantir Technologies and Hock Tan of Broadcom. Arora’s total compensation placed him in the tenth spot.

Indian-Origin Executives
The report also noted the strong presence of Indian-origin executives among high earners. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, another Indian-origin executive, was listed at number 11 with $44.93 million.