A report recently said that a US court has ordered Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu to pay $1.7 billion bond in his ongoing divorce case. Reacting to the report, Vembu’s US attorney said that the “some facts missing” from the article, including the bit that the order was made one year ago on an emergency application by his wife.
“As Sridhar Vembu’s counsel, I can add some facts missing from the article. The order was made 1 year ago on an emergency application by his wife, meaning we had little time to response to the outrageously false allegations she made against Sridhar,” Vembu’s US attorney Christopher C. Melcher said, according to The Times of India.
The Zoho founder has “already transferred his interest in the family home to her,” said Melcher, adding that “the judge was fooled into making an order that Sridhar post a $1.7 billion bond for the wife’s supposed protection,” the TOI report said.
Vembu’s former wife, Pramila Srinivasan, is an academic, entrepreneur and healthcare technology leader based in the United States.
The report about the bond order was first reported by The News Minute.
The Superior Court of California appointed a receiver to oversee Zoho entities and halted a major corporate restructuring move, the report said.
“The record in this case demonstrates that Petitioner (Sridhar) has acted without regard for Respondent’s (Pramila’s) interests in community assets and without regard for the law, and that Zoho Corporation, T&V Holdings, Inc., Tony Thomas, ZCPL and related entities will act at Petitioner’s direction to further Petitioner’s interest and prejudice Respondent’s interests,” the order, passed by the Superior Court of California, states, according to The News Minute.
Dispute over Zoho assets
Srinivasan had claimed in her application in November 2024 that Vembu secretly transferred a chunk of his shares of US-based Zoho Corporation, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chennai-headquartered Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd (ZCPL), to an entity owned by Sridhar’s long-time associate. This transaction was being done in three stages.
“I used my income to support Sridhar so he could quit his job and focus on entrepreneurship. I felt shocked to learn only after he filed for divorce that he claimed to own just 5% of the company he had spent our marriage building, and that his siblings somehow owned the majority of the company,” Pramila told The News Minute.
Vembu, however, denied that claim, insisting that he always held only 5 per cent in Zoho despite being its co-founder and serving as its chief executive officer (CEO) for a long time.
As per the 2025 Forbes list, Vembu and his siblings – who now control the majority shareholding (over 80 per cent) – have a net worth of $6 billion.
After nearly thirty years of marriage and raising a son in the United States, Vembu moved back to India in late 2019. Divorce proceedings began in 2021.
Who is Pramila Srinivasan?
On LinkedIn, Pramila Srinivasan has identified herself as an academic, entrepreneur and healthcare technology leader based in the United States. She holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering and has worked extensively in health technology, particularly in electronic health records and specialised care systems.
Her career has also involved advocacy around healthcare access and digital infrastructure. She also founded The Brain Foundation, a US-based non-profit organisation dedicated to autism research, treatment and community outreach.
