From IIT dropout to Google Cloud CEO: Thomas Kurian’s journey to Rs 15,000 crore net worth

Meet Thomas Kurian: Google Cloud CEO who left IIT and outearned Sundar Pichai

Introducing Thomas Kurian, a former IIT student and Google employee who dropped out but has surpassed the net worth of his IIT graduate boss, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Sundar Pichai, celebrated as the highest-paid Indian employee, with a staggering compensation of $226 million in 2022, leads a company valued at $1.17 trillion, but Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, has managed to amass a net worth reportedly exceeding Rs 15,000 crore.

Born in Kerala and an alumnus of Bengaluru’s St Joseph’s Boys High School, Thomas Kurian, alongside his identical twin brother George Kurian, initially pursued studies at IIT Madras before making the pivotal decision to relocate to the United States, securing admissions at Princeton University.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kurian embarked on his professional journey at McKinsey and Company.

After a successful six-year stint at McKinsey, Thomas Kurian transitioned to Oracle, where he spent 22 years and climbed various rungs of the corporate ladder, eventually leading a team of 35,000 individuals across 32 countries.

His departure from Oracle in 2018 was marked by differences with co-founder Larry Ellison. Following this, Kurian joined Google as its CEO.

Credited with the revival of Google Cloud, Thomas Kurian implemented strategic changes, with a sharp focus on customer service. One of his notable actions was raising the salaries of Google Cloud salespersons to enhance their motivation.

In 2018, he assumed the leadership role at Google Cloud, steering the company toward success and accumulating a net worth that surpassed his IIT graduate counterpart, Sundar Pichai.

Source: Financial Express‍