Contents
Jay Chaudhry is an American businessman of Indian descent. Jay came into the limelight after Hurun India Rich List 2021 placed him among the top 10 richest people in India.
Wiki/Biography
Jagtar Singh Chaudhary was born on Tuesday, 26 August 1958 (age 62 years; as of 2020) in Panoh village, Una district in Himachal Pradesh. According to another source, he was born in 1959 (age 61 years; as of 2020). Jay completed his schooling at a local high school in Dhusara village, Himachal Pradesh. After he topped his preparatory classes under the Himachal Pradesh University, Jay got admission in the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where he pursued a Bachelors of Technology in Electronics Engineering. Jay completed his post-graduation from the United States. As per his LinkedIn profile, he has done a double Masters. He has also done Masters in Industrial Engineering and Management. Jay also did an Executive Management Program in Marketing from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jay Chaudhry in his youth
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Parents & Siblings
Jay Chaudhry was born to farmer parents. His father’s name is Bhagat Singh, and his mother’s name is Surjeet Kaur. Jay has five siblings; two elder brothers and three sisters. His eldest brother, Daljeet Singh Chaudhary, is a retired government school principal.
Jay Chaudhry with his parents (they are sitting on the left and right corners)
Jay Chaudhry with his brother Daljeet
Relationships, Wife & Children
He is married to Jyoti Chaudhry. She works in the corporate sector. The couple has three kids; 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 kids
Address
Jay lives in the city of Saratoga, Santa Clara County, California, United States along with his family.
Career
His Journey from the Corporate Sector to Entrepreneurship
After completing his post-graduation, Jay worked as a business associate for multinational companies like NCR, IBM, Unisys, and IQ Software. The growth in the technological sector inspired him to start his own firm.
The journey of Jay Chaudhry from the corporate sector to entrepreneurship
Jay and his wife Jyoti, quit their respective jobs in 1996 to start a cybersecurity consultancy firm SecureIT in Atlanta. The company was acquired by the American internet company Verisign in 1998. The acquisition made Jay the vice president of Verisign. Chaudhry founded and led the e-commerce management firm CoreHarbor from 2000 to 2003 before it was acquired by AT&T. He set up CipherTrust, a messaging security firm, in 2000, which was merged with Secure Computing (now owned by McAfee) in 2006, making him Vice Chairman of Secure Computing. Jay founded AirDefense, a company that specialises in wireless security, in 2002. Motorola acquired AirDefense in 2008.
Startup companies of Jay Chaudhry
In 2007, Jay launched his cloud security firm Zscaler in San Jose. As of 2021, he and his family own 45% shares of Zscaler. The company was listed on the American stock market index Nasdaq in 2018, making him a billionaire.
Jay Chaudhry’s company getting listed on Nasdaq
Despite the COVID-19 marring the world economy in 2020, the stock price of Zscaler witnessed a 300% growth in a single year. The share price, which was 60 USD in March 2020, escalated to 180 USD in March 2021. As of March 2021, the company is worth $28 billion.
The rise in the share price of Jay Chaudhry’s company Zscaler
Zscaler has more than 5000 customers globally. It provides data security services to 400 of the Forbes Global 2000 companies including tech giants like Microsoft, Siemens, CrowdStrike, and AWS.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- 2018: EY Entrepreneur of the Year Northern California Regional Award
Jay Chaudhry posing with the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Northern California Regional Award
- Innovator & Influencer by InformationWeek Magazine
- Market Entrepreneur by SC Media
- Who’s Who by The Atlanta Business Chronicle
Net Worth
Forbes estimated his net worth at around $10.7 Billion (Rs 77,800 crores) as of March 2021.
Facts/Trivia
- Reportedly, Jay grew up in a small village devoid of drinking water and electricity. His village started receiving drinking water and electricity when he was in the eighth standard and tenth standard respectively. Due to lack of electricity, Jay used to study under a tree. In an interview, talking about the struggle he faced, he said,
I used to walk nearly 4 km every day to attend my high school at Dhusara, the neighbouring village.”
- According to him, his first plane ticket to the United States was sponsored by the Tata Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate.
- Jay and Jyoti had risked their entire life savings to start the firm SecureIT. Their investment turned out to be lucrative. According to Mr. Chaudhry, the merger with Verisign made 70 out of the 80 employees of SecureIT millionaires.
- In March 2021, the business mogul became the 9 richest Indian; Mukesh Ambani being the richest. Jay is also the 85th richest American.
- In an interview with Business Standard, Jay said,
My success so far has mainly been because I have very little attachment for money. My obsession is really to make sure that the internet and cloud are a safe place for everyone to do business.”
- Jay maintains a healthy lifestyle. He loves to hike and do white-water rafting.
- In an interview, Jay mentioned that he took an annual trip to India. He visits his village and tries to give back to the local community by endowing blood tests and other health checkups for the elderly.