World’s Costliest Divorce? Indian Businessman and Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu Faces ₹15,000 crore Bond Order in High-Profile Divorce

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Sridhar Vembu, the founder and CEO of Zoho, has drawn global attention following a California court order directing him to deposit a bond worth $1.7 billion (approximately ₹15,000 crore). This happened amid the divorce proceedings with his estranged wife, Pramila Srinivasan. The case is being described as the most expensive divorce involving an Indian businessman and one of the costliest worldwide.

Although the court order was issued last year, details of the proceedings entered the public domain only recently. Vembu married Pramila Srinivasan in 1993, and the couple lived for nearly 25 years in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, where he built Zoho into a global software company. They have a son, who reportedly has special needs.

In 2020, Vembu relocated to Tamil Nadu, stating that the move was motivated by his desire to run Zoho from India while focusing on rural development initiatives. In her court filings, Srinivasan alleged that Vembu abandoned both her and their son when he moved to India. She further claimed that he secretly transferred key Zoho assets including shares and intellectual property to his relatives and India-based entities to reduce her entitlement under California’s community property laws.

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In a 2023 filing, Srinivasan stated “My husband of 29 years not only abandoned me and our son, he decided to make fictitious transfers or ‘sales’ of our most valuable community asset to his family members without their paying any cash or other consideration, and without ever telling me or asking my permission.”

Her legal team also pointed to the alleged $50 million transfer of Zoho’s intellectual property to an India-based company, ZPCL, arguing that no clear proof of payment was disclosed to her.

Vembu has categorically denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Christopher C. Melcher, his lawyer, maintained that Vembu’s ownership stake in Zoho has not changed for more than a decade and that no attempt was made to conceal assets. According to court filings, Vembu holds approximately 5 per cent of Zoho Corporation Private Limited, while the majority of shares are owned by his siblings. His lawyer stated that Vembu had offered to transfer 50 per cent of his personal shareholding to his wife unconditionally, an offer that remains open.

“Sridhar owns 5 per cent of the shares of Zoho Corporation Private Limited…Records back to 2011 show that Sridhar holds the same amount of shares today as he did then,” Melcher wrote in a post on X, describing the allegations as “completely false.”

In the same post, Melcher added “The order by the California court in January 2025 was made on an emergency application by the wife who asserted, without evidence, that Sridhar owned 88% of the stock. She asked for a bond in the United States for $1.7 billion to cover her supposed 1/2 interest of the 88% of the shares. The judge inexplicably made the order in violation of Shridhar’s rights to due process and over my strong objection. The order has no legal or factual basis, and is a complete departure from the California justice system.”

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Vembu has also stated that his move to India was unrelated to the divorce and that he had asked his wife and son to join him, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans.

Zoho Corporation is a global Indian multinational technology company offering a wide range of cloud-based business software, including CRM, productivity tools, accounting solutions such as Zoho Books, and IT management services. The company is known for its bootstrapped growth model, focus on privacy, and affordable integrated software for businesses of all sizes. According to Forbes, Sridhar Vembu’s net worth was estimated at approximately $5.85 billion in 2024, placing him among India’s top 40 richest individuals.

The divorce has been ranked among the most expensive in the world. The costliest divorce on record still remains that of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, whose divorce estimated at $73 billion, followed by the case of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, whose settlement amounted to $38 billion.

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