Sridhar Vembu is an Indian billionaire tech entrepreneur, he is famously known as the founder of Zoho Corporation, a major software products company headquartered in Chennai. He was born in Tamil Nadu, India and graduated from prestigious colleges like Princeton University and earlier studied at IIT Madras. Vembu has been recognised for his contributions to technology with India’s Padma Shri award in 2021. He is among India’s richest people as Forbes estimates his net worth at around $5.8–$5.85 billion as of 2024.
Vembu has been in the news because of his personal life nowadays, the extremely costly divorce battle with his US-based wife, Pramila Srinivasan. Sridhar Vembu married her in 1993. They were married for about three decades and lived in California. It was in California that Vembu launched Zoho, it was originally named AdventNet when he started it with his brothers and a close friend, Tony Thomas, in 1996. The couple also share a child who has been diagnosed with autism and has been a central emotional subject in the dispute.
Sridhar Vembu’s high-profile multi-billion-dollar divorce case
The divorce case, which has been filed in California, has turned bitter as both sides have levied serious allegations against each other. Pramila Srinivasan has accused Vembu of abandoning her and their special-needs son after he moved permanently to India in 2019. He started divorce proceedings via WhatsApp messages around 2020.
Pramila Srinivasan has alleged that Vembu secretly transferred large portions of Zoho’s ownership and intellectual property to family members in India, particularly to his sister Radha Vembu and brother Sekar Vembu, without her knowledge or consent. These actions violate California’s community property laws, which require marital assets to be shared equally. She further claimed that these actions have effectively reduced her share of the company’s value.
Vembu has denied the accusations and called them “complete fiction” and said that he has supported his wife and son financially. He reportedly said that he was paying his U.S. salary to Pramila and gave her the family home.
His lawyer has also called the allegations misleading and said that the $1.7 billion bond order issued by a U.S. court is invalid and under appeal.
Vembu ordered to post $1.7 billion bond
The most striking development in the case came when a California court reportedly ordered Vembu to post a $1.7 billion bond, which is approximately Rs 15,278 crore, to protect his wife’s potential claims and halt certain asset transfers while the divorce proceedings continue. The extraordinary amount has made headlines worldwide.
