- By Shivangi Sharma
- Mon, 24 Jun 2024 06:23 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
In a world where wealth and achievement typically favour the privileged, there exist exceptional individuals who defy expectations and achieve immense success through their own determination.
Jay Chaudhry, an Indian-American billionaire and the founder and CEO of the esteemed cloud security firm Zscaler, exemplifies such a journey — a testament to perseverance and inspiration for everyone.
Jay Chaudhry is the CEO of Zscaler, a cybersecurity company he established in 2008, which became publicly traded in March 2018. Prior to Zscaler, Chaudhry founded four tech companies — SecureIT, CoreHarbor, CipherTrust, and AirDefense — all of which were acquired. Originally from a small Himalayan village, he relocated to the US in 1980 to pursue graduate studies.
Jay Chaudhry's extraordinary accomplishments have gained international recognition, earning him a place on the prestigious Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America, with a net worth of USD 9.2 billion as of October 2023. Jay Chaudhary has also been recognised as the wealthiest NRI residing in the US, with a fortune of Rs 72,100 crore, according to the Hurun Rich List 2023.
Jay Chaudhary’s early life
Jay was born in Panoh, a village in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh, India, with a population of 800. The village lacked running water and electricity until he was a teenager. His parents, Bhagat and Surjeet Chaudhry were small-scale farmers, and he was the youngest of three sons.
In an interview, Jay recalled walking nearly 4 kilometres daily to attend high school in the neighbouring village of Dhusara. Since there was no electricity, he often studied outside under a tree.
Jay Chaudhary’s education
After high school, Jay earned a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.
At the age of 22, he relocated to the United States to study at the University of Cincinnati. Jay holds an MBA, an MS in Industrial Engineering & Management, and an MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He also holds a BTech in Electronics Engineering from IIT BHU Varanasi. Additionally, Jay has completed the Executive Management Program from Harvard Business School.
Jay Chaudhary’s Career
Chaudhry began his career working in engineering, sales, marketing, and management roles at IBM, Unisys, and NCR. He went on to establish five security software startups. In 1996, he and his wife used their life savings to found the Internet security service SecureIT. After Verisign acquired SecureIT in 1998, Chaudhry moved to San Francisco to lead Verisign’s security services division, leaving the company in 1999. In 2007, he founded Zscaler, a Zero Trust cloud security company, aiming to create the "Salesforce of cloud security," inspired by Marc Benioff. Zscaler recorded revenue of USD 525.0 million in Second Quarter Fiscal 2024.
Jay Chaudhary’s Net Worth
As per Forbes, Jay Chaudhary has an estimated net worth of USD 10.2 billion. In Indian currency, Jay Chaudhary's net worth stands at Rs 10,200 crore.
Jay Chaudhary’s Personal Life
Chaudhry and his wife, Jyoti, reside in Reno, Nevada, with their three children. He is a vegetarian. Jay enjoys hiking, white-water rafting, and taking “bonding walks” with his family around their neighbourhood. A voracious reader, he particularly enjoys books on history, global politics, and psychology.
