Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Received $79.1 Million Pay In 2024, A 63% Hike

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella received a pay package worth $79.1 million for fiscal 2024, a 63% increase from the prior year as the software maker worked to extend its strong position in artificial intelligence tools.

About 90% of Nadella’s compensation for the year ended in June was in Microsoft shares, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. It’s the largest award he has received in any year since he was paid $84 million in 2014, the year he became Microsoft’s third chief executive.

Nadella’s pay would have been about $5 million higher had he not requested a pay cut “to reflect his personal accountability” for changes the company is making to reflect cybersecurity risks, Microsoft’s board compensation committee wrote in the filing on Thursday. The company has faced mounting scrutiny in recent years, including from the US Cyber Safety Review Board, for a series of embarrassing hacks of its software. 

“The board reviewed the company’s performance and strongly believes that Mr. Nadella provided exceptional leadership and was both critical in achieving both the extremely strong performance of the company and personally responsible for the ongoing repositioning of its investments and priorities,” Microsoft’s board compensation committee wrote.

Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood’s pay package for the year rose to $25.8 million, an increase of 30% from a year earlier, according to the filing. President Brad Smith got a 29% bump to $23.4 million.