Jay Chaudhry is an Indian-American businessman. He started to gain attention after the Hurun India Rich List 2021 listed Jay as one of the top 10 richest people in India.
Wiki/Biography
Jagtar Singh Choudhary was born on Tuesday, August 26, 1958 (62 years old in 2020) in Pano village, Una district, Himachal Pradesh. Another source states that he was born in 1959 (61 years old in 2020). Jay completed his schooling from a local high school in Dusala village, Himachal Pradesh. After excelling in his matriculation classes at Himachal Pradesh University, Jay was admitted to the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where he pursued a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics Engineering. Jay completed his postgraduate studies in the United States. According to his LinkedIn profile, he holds a dual master’s degree. He also obtained a master’s degree in industrial engineering and management. Jay also completed the Advanced Management Program in Marketing at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jay Chaudhry as a young man
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 9″
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Black
Family and caste
Parents and siblings
Jay Chaudhary was born into a farming family. His father’s name is Bhagat Singh and his mother’s name is Surjit Kaur. Jay has five siblings, two brothers and three sisters. His eldest brother Daljit Singh Chaudhary is a retired government school principal.
Jay Chaudhry and his parents (sitting in the left and right corners respectively)
Jay Chaudhry and his brother Daljeet
Relationships, Wife and Children
His wife is Jyoti Chaudhry. She works in the corporate sector. The couple has three children; two sons and a daughter. His sons are Yash Chaudhry and Samir Chaudhry. His daughter’s name is Simi Chaudhry.
Jay Chaudhry with his wife and children
address
Jay lives with his family in Saratoga, Santa Clara County, California, USA.
Profession
The journey from the corporate sector to entrepreneurship
After graduating from graduate school, Jay worked as a business assistant for multinational companies such as NCR, IBM, Unisys, and IQ Software. The growth of the technology industry inspired him to start his own company.
Jay Chaudhry: From the corporate sector to entrepreneurship
In 1996, Jay and his wife Jody quit their jobs and founded SecureIT, a cybersecurity consulting firm in Atlanta. In 1998, the company was acquired by American Internet company Verisign. The acquisition made Jay a vice president of Verisign. From 2000 to 2003, Choudhury founded and led e-commerce management company CoreHarbor, which was later acquired by AT&T. In 2000, he founded information security company CipherTrust, which merged with Secure Computing (now owned by McAfee) in 2006, and he became vice chairman of Secure Computing. In 2002, Jay founded AirDefense, a company focused on wireless security. In 2008, Motorola acquired AirDefense.
Jay Chaudhry’s Startup
Jay founded his own cloud security company Zscaler in San Jose in 2007. As of 2021, he and his family own 45% of Zscaler. The company went public on the US stock market index Nasdaq in 2018, making him a billionaire.
Jay Chaudhry’s company is listed on Nasdaq
Despite COVID-19 disrupting the world economy in 2020, Zscaler’s stock price increased by 300% in one year. In March 2020, the stock price was $60 and rose to $180 in March 2021. As of March 2021, the company’s market value is $28 billion.
Jay Chaudhry’s company Zscaler rises
With more than 5,000 customers worldwide, Zscaler provides data security services to 400 of the Forbes Global 2000, including technology giants such as Microsoft, Siemens, CrowdStrike and AWS.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- 2018: Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Northern California Award
Jay Chaudhry poses with Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Northern California Region Award
- InformationWeek’s Innovators and Influencers
- Market Entrepreneurs by SC Media
- Atlanta Business Chronicle Who’s Who
net worth
Forbes estimates his net worth to be around $10.7 billion (Rs 77,800 crore) as of March 2021.
Facts/Trivia
- Jay reportedly grew up in a small village without drinking water and electricity. When he was in eighth and tenth grade, his village began to have drinking water and electricity. Due to the lack of electricity, Jay used to study under a tree. In an interview, talking about the difficulties he faced, he said,
I have to walk nearly 4 kilometers every day to go to high school in the neighboring village of Dhusara.”
- According to him, his first flight to the United States was sponsored by the Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Group.
- Jay and Jyoti risked their life savings to start SecureIT. Their investment paid off handsomely. The merger with Verisign made 70 of SecureIT’s 80 employees millionaires, according to Mr. Choudhury.
- In March 2021, the business tycoon became the ninth richest person in India; Mukesh Ambani was the richest. Jay is also the 85th richest person in the United States.
- In an interview with Business Standard, Jay said,
My success to date is largely due to my obsession with money. My real obsession is making sure the Internet and the cloud are a safe place for everyone to do business.”
- Jay maintains a healthy lifestyle. He enjoys hiking and white water rafting.
- In an interview, Jay mentioned that he travels to India every year to visit his village and try to give back to the local community by providing blood tests and other health checks to the elderly.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education