Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s salary surged by 63% in fiscal year 2024, reaching nearly around Rs 665 crore. According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nadella’s stock awards saw a significant increase, jumping from last year’s $39 million to $71 million. However, the filing also revealed that Nadella requested a reduction in his cash compensation, citing cybersecurity concerns, hinting at a potential "China angle."
Microsoft has faced several cybersecurity breaches recently. In July 2023, a global outage affected Windows users, and a US Department of Homeland Security report revealed in April that China had breached the email accounts of US officials. Microsoft disclosed this incident in July, and in January, Russian intelligence accessed email accounts of some top Microsoft executives.
According to reports, for fiscal year 2024, Nadella’s compensation includes $71.2 million (about Rs 600 crore) in stock awards. Additionally, he will receive $5.2 million (Rs 44 crore) as part of a non-equity incentive plan, a base salary of $2.5 million (over Rs 21 crore), and $170,000 (around Rs 15 lakh) in miscellaneous compensation. However, his cash incentive dropped from $10.7 million to $5.2 million, bringing his total cash-based income to approximately $7.87 million.
The SEC filing stated that Nadella, in light of rising cybersecurity threats, requested the board to adjust his cash incentives, showcasing his personal commitment to security and responsibility as CEO.
Since becoming CEO in 2014, Nadella has led Microsoft to triple its revenue, reaching $245.1 billion, and quadruple its net income to $88.1 billion.
