Here’s why Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu says Big Tech is the new 'East India Company'

Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu renews his East India Company analogy, citing Big Tech’s capital muscle and push for technology sovereignty.

• Sridhar Vembu compares Big Tech to the British East India Company
• He notes Big Tech's financial power rivals sovereign states
• Vembu urges nations to control their digital infrastructure

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Zoho Corporation co-founder Sridhar Vembu has once again likened global technology giants to the historic British East India Company, arguing that today’s Big Tech firms wield financial and strategic power that rivals sovereign states.

“Big tech is bigger than most sovereign nations. ‘East India Company’ is the way to think about them,” Vembu wrote on social media platform X on February 14, reiterating an analogy he first made weeks earlier.

The remark comes amid growing debate over the scale, capital strength and geopolitical influence of global technology companies.

Vembu was responding to a post comparing Alphabet’s latest $32 billion debt raise, completed in 24 hours, with the longer timelines typically required by governments to mobilise comparable capital.

Big tech is bigger than most sovereign nations. "East India Company" is the way to think about them. https://t.co/uNsZdmT2zO

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— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 14, 2026

The comparison also noted that Alphabet issued 100-year bonds, whereas India’s sovereign bonds generally extend up to 40 years.

For Vembu, the episode underscored the sheer financial muscle of Big Tech firms and their ability to attract capital at scale and speed.

This is not the first time Vembu has drawn parallels with the East India Company, the British trading enterprise that evolved into a dominant political and economic force in colonial Asia.

In January, while commenting on France’s decision to shift from US-based video meeting platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to a domestic alternative called Visio, Vembu described the moment as “ironic”, suggesting that Europe was only now recognising the concentration of digital power.

He called for 'technology sovereignty' and urged countries to assert greater control over their digital infrastructure.

The East India Company analogy carries broader implications: that large corporations, backed by capital, technology and cross-border reach, can shape markets and influence national policy environments in ways traditionally associated with states.

By invoking that history, Vembu appears to be framing Big Tech not merely as dominant market players but as entities whose economic gravity could alter geopolitical alignments.