Microsoft CEO sees pay increase to almost $80 million despite thousands of layoffs

Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has had a huge salary spike this year, with his pay and compensation rising to almost $80 million for 2024.

This staggering amount has largely been due to performance-based stock awards, which are valued at $71.2 million for 2024, as detailed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday (October 24).

Nadella’s pay soared by 63% to $79.1 million, rising from the $39 million he received in the previous year.

At the same time, the company’s market value exceeded $3 trillion during the same period with its performance through the fiscal year of 2024 being nothing short of impressive. Its stock has risen by 28% throughout the year.

While Nadella’s payment is large, his cash incentive dropped to $5.2 million which is lower than the $10.7 million he was eligible for. He voluntarily reduced his cash incentive which has come to light through a letter from the board’s compensation committee within the regulatory filing.

Within this, the board says Nadella agreed that the company’s performance was “extremely strong, but reflecting on his personal commitment to security and his role as the CEO, he asked the Board to consider departing from the established performance metrics and reduce his cash incentive to reflect his personal accountability for the focus and speed required for the changes that today’s cybersecurity threat landscape showed were necessary.”

Microsoft CEO pay has risen following year of AI integrations

The company has focused on AI, with several strategic investments including its deal with OpenAI. Microsoft has also paved the way when it has come to integrating artificial intelligence into its products, with a real focus on this over the last few months.

Its commitment to this has been further shown in the filing from this week, as it opens with a statement from Satya Nadella who places great emphasis on AI.

“AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, and we believe it will fundamentally bend the productivity curve for every individual, organization, and industry sector to help us address some of our most pressing global challenges.

“We know Microsoft will only succeed if the world is fundamentally succeeding. We are focused on ensuring the world benefits from the broad technological shift to AI, while mitigating its risks.”

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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