On January 8, 2026 The News Minute published an exclusive story reporting a California court’s order directing Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu to post a $1.7 billion bond to protect his ex-wife Pramila Srinivasan’s rights in their ongoing divorce case. The order, passed in January 2025 on an ex-parte application by Pramila and previously unreported, also paused the restructuring of a US subsidiary of Zoho, Zoho Corp, that was under way and appointed a receiver over multiple US entities that were part of the restructuring, including Zoho Corp, and the personal assets of Sridhar and co-founder Tony Thomas.
While the entities and individuals that were to be placed in receivership posted a bond to stay the receivership, Sridhar put forward different reasons about his inability to pay the $1.7 billion bond. Over various hearings, he offered different amounts, from zero to $150 million. The News Minute reported that till date, Sridhar has not paid anything and remains out of compliance with the order.
Before publishing the story, a detailed questionnaire was e-mailed multiple times to Sridhar Vembu and Zoho, seeking their responses. A representative of the PR team, when reached on the phone, said they would not be responding.
However, hours after the article was published, Sridhar’s lawyer, Christopher C Melcher, wrote a long post on X (formerly Twitter), saying “the judge was fooled into making an order that Sridhar post a $1.7 billion bond for the wife’s supposed protection”; that “There is no legal authority for such an order”; that “A subsequent judge acknowledged that the amount seemed absurd”; and that “The $1.7 billion bond order is invalid, cannot be complied with, and is on appeal. The receivership order has been stayed on appeal.” This was reposted by Sridhar.
We reached out to Pramila’s attorney, John O Farley of Rottenstreich Farley Bronstein Fisher Potter Hodas LLP in New York City, seeking his response to the statements Melcher made.
“Mr Vembu’s lawyer accuses a respected judge of being “fooled” into ruling against his client. Mr Vembu can’t change the facts by attacking the judge. Neither can his lawyer. The Court’s findings against Mr Vembu are a matter of public record which cannot be undone via Twitter (now X),” Farley told us in an emailed statement.
When asked about Melcher’s claim that the $1.7 billion bond order is invalid, Farley replied: “No judge of any court has found the $1.7 billion bond order "invalid.” The order is valid, it is in force, and Mr Vembu’s efforts to challenge it have been unsuccessful.”
The January 2025 order is part of the pre-trial proceedings of the divorce, which began when Sridhar filed a petition in 2021. He moved to India from California in late 2019. He was married to Pramila for close to three decades and the couple was living in California with their son, who is autistic.
The details of the appeal filed by Pramila and the court’s findings and order can be read here. The report is part of an extensive profile of Sridhar Vembu that will be published in The News Minute soon.
Indulekha Aravind is an independent journalist based in Bengaluru.