Arora, 57, has been the Chairman of the board and chief executive officer (CEO) of cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks since June 2018. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, he was an angel investor from 2016 to 2018. Before that, he worked with SoftBank Group Corp in various senior capacities from 2014 to 2017.
Notably, SoftBank made significant investments in Uber in 2018 and 2019, becoming its largest shareholder at one point. SoftBank sold a third of its stake in the ride hailing platform in 2021 and offloaded the rest between April and July 2022. Arora was also one of the top candidates being considered as successors to former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick after he resigned in June 2017. The job went to Dara Khosrowshahi.
Prior to SoftBank, from December 2004 through July 2014, Arora held multiple senior leadership operating roles at Google, Inc., including serving as senior vice president and chief business officer, from January 2011 to June 2014.
The Palo Alto CEO also serves on the board of Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company. He has previously served on the boards of insurance company Aviva PLC, Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel, US communications services company Sprint Corp, global FMCG company Colgate-Palmolive Company, SoftBank, and Yahoo! Japan.
“Nikesh is one of the technology industry’s great executives: a strategic and disciplined operator, and a fierce competitor. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the board and look forward to his contributions as we continue to advance our long-term strategy,” said Uber chief executive officer Khosrowshahi.
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As an Uber director, Arora will receive a $60,000 annual cash retainer and restricted stock units with a fair value of $300,000, the SEC filing said.
