Indian-Origin Shantanu Narayen Is The 11th Highest-Paid CEO In The USA. This Is His Net Worth

The Wall Street Journal recently released its 2023 compilation of the most highly compensated CEOs in the United States, with 17 individuals of Indian heritage included among the top 500.

Interestingly, Nikesh Arora featured second on the list with a significant remuneration of $151.43 million (Rs 1,260 crore approx), way ahead of Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai.

This list also features Shantanu Narayen, who is the CEO of Adobe Inc. He ranked as the 11th highest-paid CEO in the US and was the second highest-paid CEO of Indian descent, trailing Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks.



Shantanu Narayen serves as theChairman and CEO of Adobe, a multinational computer software company based in San Jose, California. As reported by the Economic Times, Adobe has significant development operations in India, with major centers located in Noida and Bengaluru. In 2023, Adobe reported a revenue of $19.41 billion, equivalent to approximately Rs 1.6 lakh crore.

He commenced his journey with Adobe in 1998 as Vice President, overseeing Worldwide Product Development and serving as General Manager of the Engineering Technology group until 2001. Subsequently, he ascended to the role of Executive Vice President for Worldwide Products from 2001 to 2005. In 2005, Narayen's responsibilities expanded further as he assumed the position of President and COO.

Following this, in 2007, he succeeded Bruce Chizen as the CEO of Adobe. In 2017, Narayen took on the role of Chairman of the Board. He has transformed the company into an industry innovator by pioneering a cloud-based subscription model for its creative suite, establishing the global standard for digital documents, and creating and leading the explosive digital experience category. Today, he’s driving the company’s strategy to unleash creativity for all, accelerate document productivity, and power digital business.

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Prior to his tenure at Adobe, Shantanu Narayen contributed to Apple from 1989 to 1995, where he held senior management roles focused on product development. Following his time at Apple, Narayen co-founded Pictra in 1996, a groundbreaking photo-sharing startup that pioneered digital photo-sharing on the internet. Noteworthy is Narayen's position as Lead Independent Director on Pfizer's Board of Directors.



Shantanu Narayen hails from a prominent family in Hyderabad. After completing his Bachelors in Electronics and Communication Engineering from UCE Hyderabad, he moved to the US for his Masters in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and MBA from Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

Shantanu Narayen currently holds five patents and was honored with the Padma Shri award in 2019. Additionally, in 2011, he was appointed as a member of the Management Advisory Board by then-US President Barack Obama.

Also Read: From Sundar Pichai To Laxman Narsimhan: Net Worth Of Richest Indian-Origin CEOs



According to the Hurun List of 2022 and reports from Financial Express, Shantanu Narayen boasts a substantial net worth of Rs 3,800 crore. As one of the top-earning CEOs in the US, Narayen amassed a remarkable income of $44.93 million (approximately Rs 373 crore) in 2023.