Google's Nikesh Arora set to join Japan's SoftBank

Nikesh Arora, the Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Google has quit and is headed to Japan’s SoftBank. He will be the CEO of SoftBank's Internet and Media Operation and Vice Chairman of the overall company.

Arora joined Google in 2004 and has been Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Google Inc. (Google) since January 2011. Previously he held multiple senior operating leadership roles at Google, serving as President - Global Sales Operations and Business Development from 2009 to 2010, President - Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2007 to 2009 and Vice President - Europe Operations from 2004 to 2007.

“I have had the good fortune of getting to know Nikesh over the last five years. He brings a rare set of skills: amazing financial and strategic acumen; a decade of executive experience at one of the fastest growing companies in history; a deep understanding of the telecommunications industry. This makes him uniquely qualified to help guide us through our next stage of growth. Our intention is to nominate Nikesh to the SoftBank Corp. board at our next shareholder meeting,” said Masayoshi Son.

Previous to this stint with Google, Arora has worked as CMO and as a member of the Management Board at T-Mobile, Bharti Airtel, Europe and serves as a Trustee at the Parley Center for Media in Los Angeles, California.

Arora holds graduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, He then went onto to add a degree from Boston College and an MBA from Northeastern University. He also holds the degree of a CFA.