Meet Shantanu Narayen, man with Rs 250 crore salary didn't go to IIT, runs $189 billion firm

The story of Shantanu Narayen is an inspiration. He is the Chairman, President and CEO of Adobe, an IT giant with a market cap of 189 billion dollars. In a country where getting into an IIT or IIM is a prerequisite to success in the corporate world, this man got success through his hard work and intelligence.

Shantanu Narayen was born into a rich family in Hyderabad. He completed his engineering from Hyderabad's Osmania University. He moved to the United States to pursue his master's degree in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University, Ohio. He later did MBA from the University of California. He was awarded Padma Shri, India's third highest civilian award, in 2019. 

Narayen's mother was a professor of American Literature. His father owned a plastic company. He met his wife Reni at Bowling Green State University. They have two sons -- Shravan Narayen and Arjun Narayen.

He loves cricket and sailing.

He began his career in 1986 with a startup called MeasureX Automobiles System. In 1989, he joined Apple where he worked for six years. He later joined Silicon Graphics, which dealt with desktop products. He joined Adobe as a senior vice president. 

He became CEO in 2007.

He spearheaded the company when it entered its worst phase -- the 2008 financial crisis.

He also launched Adobe's subscription model which became a roaring success.

He is one of the highest paid executives in the world. In 2022, he was paid over 31 million dollars which is around 256 crore rupees.

In 2021, he was paid 36.12 million dollars. He was paid 45.8 million dollars in 2020. 

According to Hurun list, in 2022, he had a net worth of Rs 3800 crore dollars. Sundar Pichai's net worth was Rs 5300 crore.

In 2011, he was part of the President's Management Advisory Board.

Shantanu once represented India in sailing at an Asian regatta.