Many top companies around the world are led by graduates of IITs, which are prestigious engineering colleges in India. These graduates are known for their smart ideas, hard work, and creative thinking. They often get well-paying jobs soon after finishing college. One such graduate, Parag Agarwal, made headlines when he was hired as the CEO of Twitter with a huge salary of Rs 100 crore. However, he was later fired.
There were many theories about why Parag was fired, but a new book by Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner reveals the main reason. Before Twitter was bought by Elon Musk, Parag refused Elon’s request to block an account that tracked Elon’s private jet. This refusal led to Elon buying Twitter for a massive Rs 336,000 crore. When Elon took over, he fired Parag and blocked the account tracking his jet.
Now, Parag is starting his venture in AI and has already received Rs 249 crore in funding. His startup is making software for developers, similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures, an early supporter of OpenAI, is one of the investors.
Parag, who is from Ajmer, comes from a well-educated family. His father worked for the Indian Department of Atomic Energy, and his mother was an Economics professor. Parag graduated from IIT Bombay in 2005 and later got a PhD from Stanford University in the US.
Also Read: Meet Vineeta Agarwala, A Ph.D. Holder, Whose IIT Graduated Husband Lost A Job From X(Twitter)
Before joining Twitter, Parag did internships at Microsoft Research and Yahoo. He worked at Twitter for six years before becoming the chief technology officer after someone else left the position.
