Sridhar Vembu is the co-founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation, a leading SaaS company offering business software. Born in Tamil Nadu, India, he holds a PhD from Princeton and built Zoho into a billion-dollar firm without venture capital.
Sridhar Vembu’s journey from a small village in Tamil Nadu to becoming the CEO of a global tech giant is a story of perseverance, innovation, and unconventional thinking. Unlike many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Vembu rejected venture capital, choosing instead to bootstrap Zoho (formerly AdventNet) into profitability. His leadership focuses on sustainable growth, employee welfare, and rural empowerment.
Vembu is also known for his criticism of excessive AI hype, arguing that real-world problem-solving should take precedence over speculative technology trends. His philosophy emphasizes simplicity, long-term thinking, and decentralization—principles that have shaped Zoho’s unique corporate culture.
Sridhar Vembu was born in 1968 in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu. He earned a BTech from IIT Madras and a PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton University before co-founding Zoho in 1996.
Vembu grew up in a middle-class family in rural Tamil Nadu, where his father worked as a stenographer in the Madras High Court. His academic brilliance earned him a seat at IIT Madras, where he studied electrical engineering. Later, he moved to the U.S. for higher studies, completing his PhD at Princeton.
Despite his elite education, Vembu chose an unconventional path—returning to India to build a bootstrapped software company. This decision set the foundation for Zoho’s unique culture, which prioritizes profitability over fundraising.
Sridhar Vembu co-founded Zoho (originally AdventNet) in 1996. The company provides cloud-based business tools and competes with Microsoft and Salesforce, earning over $1 billion in revenue without external funding.
Zoho began as a network management software provider before pivoting to cloud-based business applications. Unlike most SaaS companies, Zoho avoided venture capital, relying on organic growth. Today, it offers over 50 products, including CRM, email, and accounting software, serving millions of users worldwide.
The net worth of Sridhar Vembu is estimated to be around Rs. 320,000 crores in Indian currency or $3.8 billion as of 2025. His main source of income is his Zoho Corporation and investments in various business ventures. His Inshorts business valuation is around Rs. 1.03 lakh crore (approximately $12 billion) as of 2025.
Sridhar Vembu is married to Pramila Srinivasan. He lives in a farmhouse in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, embracing a simple lifestyle despite his billionaire status.
Vembu keeps his personal life private. He was previously married but divorced in the early 2000s. He later married Pramila Srinivasan, and the couple leads a low-key life. Unlike other tech CEOs, Vembu avoids luxury cars and mansions, preferring rural living.
Sridhar Vembu advocates for rural development, bootstrapped growth, and skepticism toward AI hype. He believes in sustainable business over rapid scaling.

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