Court Orders Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu to Deposit Rs 15,000 Crore in Divorce Case, Among World’s Costliest
Sridhar Vembu, founder and CEO of Zoho, is involved in what is being described as one of the most expensive divorce cases in the world. A California court has reportedly directed him to deposit a bond worth $1.7 billion, which is roughly ₹15,000 crore, as part of the ongoing divorce proceedings with his wife, Pramila Srinivasan.
According to reports, this is the costliest divorce case involving an Indian business leader so far. Vembu’s net worth is estimated at $5.85 billion, placing him among India’s richest individuals. However, Zoho remains a privately held company, and most of its shares are owned by his siblings. The company employs over 12,000 people and serves nearly 80 million users worldwide.
Sridhar Vembu and Pramila Srinivasan got married in 1993 and have a son together. After spending nearly 25 years in the San Francisco Bay Area managing Zoho’s global operations, Vembu moved to Tamil Nadu in 2020. He stated that the move was aimed at supporting rural development initiatives and running Zoho from India.
Pramila Srinivasan filed for divorce in 2020. In her court filings, she alleged that Vembu abandoned her and their son, who has special needs. She also claimed that he secretly transferred valuable Zoho assets, including intellectual property and company shares, to family members in India. According to her, these actions were taken to reduce her legal share under California’s community property laws.
Vembu has strongly denied these allegations. He maintained that he never reduced the family’s shared financial interests and said his relocation to India was not meant to exclude his family. He also stated that he had invited his wife and son to join him in India, but travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic prevented this.
Court records show that Vembu holds only about 5 per cent of Zoho’s shares, with the majority owned by his brother and sister. Srinivasan’s legal team has questioned several asset transfers, including a reported $50 million transfer of Zoho’s intellectual property to an India-based entity, ZPCL, allegedly without proper payment records. Vembu has responded that the money from this transaction remains with the original US-based company, T&V Holdings.
Vembu’s lawyer, Christopher C. Melcher, has rejected all allegations, calling them false. He stated that Vembu had even offered to transfer 50 per cent of his personal Zoho shares to his wife without any conditions, an offer that remains open.
Globally, some of the most expensive divorce cases include those involving Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, and other billionaire couples where settlements have crossed billions of dollars.
