Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s tenure in limbo, but here’s why Agrawals make it to the top

Parag Agrawal's tenure as the Twitter CEO is stuck in a limbo with Musk's acquisition of the platform. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal will reportedly get $42 million within 12 months of a management rejig after Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform. Agarwal was appointed as the CEO of the platform right after co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from his position in November last year. 

Prior to taking office as the CEO, Agrawal was the chief technical officer (CTO) of the company.

As the CEO of Twitter, Agrawal is raking in quite the moolah as he is entitled to an annual salary of $1,000,000 and will get restricted stock units (RSUs) worth $12.5 million. He is also entitled to an annual performance bonus of $2.5 million or 150 per cent of his annual salary.

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Parag Agrawal is not the only Agrawal to make it to the top.  But why do most Agrawals make it to the topmost echelons of the corporate world? Agrawal is a part of the larger community of Banias found in northern, central and western India, known for their business acumen. The community has been engaged in trade and commerce-related activities for a decade.

It is anglicized into Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal and Agarawala. They are divided into 18 gotras or exogamous clans – Kansal, Bansal, Jindal, Goel, Garg, Singhal, Mittal, Garg, Kansal and others.

They belong to the ‘Vaishya’ varna which covers several business communities such as the Agrawal, Maheshwari, Khandelwal, Oswal, Jaiswal, Poswal, Dasee and Mahajan.

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“Originally, Vaishyas took care of the pastures, but eventually they owned land, engaged in trade, and lent money. Vaishyas “gave primacy to the virtues of thrift, prudence, and the acquisition of wealth through trade and commerce… The so-called capitalist societies are Vaishya societies par excellence,” ” according to Roger Boesche’s The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and his Arthashastra.

Out of these, Agrawal is the largest community. The name Agrawal or Aggarwal has been taken from the Agragan state reportedly founded by Maharaja Agrasen 5,000 years ago. Most Agrawals follow Hinduism whereas some also practice Jainism.

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