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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MAY 31, 2024 | The Indian Eye 30

NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

Selected stories about Indian diaspora from our website www.theindianeye.com

NIKESH ARORA GOPI THOTAKURA

CEO stands at second place on Entrepreneur goes into space

the list of highest paid executives after Rakesh Sharma

opi Thotakura, the Indian origin entrepreneur and pilot, took to the
skies and beyond in Blue Origin’s seventh human flight, NS-25. Ac-
Gcording to Blue Origin, “Gopi is a pilot and aviator who learned how
he Wall Street Journal released a list of the highest paid CEOs in to fly before he could drive.” The 30-year-old aviator, co-founded Preserve
US and the Indian-origin CEO of Palo Alto Network, Nikesh Arora, Life Corp, a global centre for holistic wellness and applied health located near
Tcame second on the list with an impressive compensation of $151.43 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
million. Notably, Nikesh Arora’s compensation was much higher than Meta In addition to flying jets commercially, he pilots bush, aerobatic, and sea-
CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $24.40 million and Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s planes, as well as gliders and hot air balloons, and has served as an international
$8.8 million. medical jet pilot. A lifelong traveller, his most recent adventure took him to the
56-year-old Arora now leads Palo Alto Networks which is an American summit of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Born in Andhra Pradesh, Thotakura
multinational cybersecurity company with headquarters in Santa Clara, Cal- graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
ifornia. The core product is a platform that includes advanced firewalls and “Our astronaut crew included: Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth
cloud-based offerings that extend those firewalls to cover other aspects of L. Hess, Carol Schaller, Gopi Thotakura, and former Air Force Captain Ed
security. Dwight, who was selected by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 as the nation’s
An IIT BHU alumni, Arora has worked with Google and Softbank before. first Black astronaut candidate but never had the opportunity to fly,” the com-
He became the highest paid executive at Google in 2012 when the company pany said in a statement. The crew included the first U.S. Black astronaut can-
hired him with a $51 million package. Nikesh Arora had stock awards worth didate from the 1960s. “I am ecstatic,” Ed Dwight, who at age 90 years and eight
at least $200 million at the end of his Google term. During his decade-long months became the oldest person in space, said upon landing.
tenure at Google, Arora oversaw sales, marketing and partnerships. During Thotakura was selected as one of the six crew members for the NS-25 mis-
his tenure, he struck a $250-million deal for a minority stake in Legendary sion, making him the first Indian space tourist and the second Indian to venture
Entertainment. According to reports, Arora had advocated for Google to ac- into space after the Indian Army’s Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
quire Netflix in 2009. He had also proposed acquisition of LoveFilm, a UK- Blue Origin’s seventh human flight, NS-25, lifted off from Launch Site One in
based streaming video company that was later acquired by Amazon in 2011, West Texas on Sunday morning, the company announced on social media. To
During his time at Softbank Group, Arora also set a new record in Japan date, Blue Origin has flown 31 individuals aboard New Shepard, a compact, ful-
with a mammoth first-year compensation package of $135 million. ly reusable rocket system named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
He joined Palo Alto Networks in 2018. “Because of this significant vest- Mission NS-25 marks the seventh human flight for the venture founded by
ed ownership and the amount that Mr. Arora was projected to vest in over Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos. Bezos envisions short excursions aboard the New
the next several years, the Board determined that a meaningful equity award Shepard suborbital craft as a precursor to larger aspirations, such as develop-
would be necessary to ensure that such award retains and engages Mr. Arora,” ing a heavy rocket and lunar lander.
Palo Alto Network said last year. Continued on next page... >>

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