Satya Nadella’s jaw-dropping pay jump despite Microsoft's huge layoffs revealed
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella voluntarily reduced his 2024 cash bonus by $5.46 million following cybersecurity lapses that raised concerns.
Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, is set to pocket $79.1 million this financial year—an impressive 63 per cent rise compared to his earnings in 2023, which includes both cash and stock, was revealed by the tech giant yesterday, capping off a year marked by financial success for the company.
Nadella’s total compensation for 2024 rose to $79.1 million, marking a 63% increase from the previous year. This total includes a $2.5 million salary and $71.2 million in stock awards linked to performance milestones. Microsoft’s share price has seen significant growth since Nadella took the reins as CEO in 2014, with the company now competing with tech giants Apple and Nvidia for the title of the world’s most valuable business.
Notably, amid a challenging time for Microsoft's workforce, Nadella has accepted a reduction in his 2024 cash bonus by $5.46 million after a series of cybersecurity lapses raised concerns about the company’s security measures. The company reported that Nadella’s bonus, initially set at $10.66 million, was reduced to $5.2 million at his own request.
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Microsoft noted in its filing, “Since the board of directors appointed Mr Nadella as the third chief executive officer in its history in 2014, Microsoft has nearly tripled revenue to $245.1bn, nearly quadrupled net income to $88.1bn, and more than quadrupled diluted earnings per share to $11.80.”
“In addition to another year of consistently strong financial performance, Mr Nadella and his leadership team have positioned Microsoft to continue to drive performance for years to come.”
Nadella's this year's bonus docked by $5 million
Earlier, Microsoft also issued a statement on the decision to reduce Nadella’s bonus, saying, “Mr Nadella agreed that the company’s performance was extremely strong, but reflecting on his personal commitment to security and his role as the CEO, 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 cyber security threat landscape showed were necessary.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. government criticized Microsoft over multiple security failures, including an attack by Chinese hackers, who gained unauthorized access to the email accounts of key government officials, including Gina Raimondo, the U.S. Commerce Secretary. Other lapses also enabled Russian hackers to infiltrate email accounts belonging to U.S. government agencies and large corporations.
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Biden administration called for a reevaluation of Microsoft’s security protocols, stating that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul” given the company’s critical role in managing email and cloud systems for governmental and business use.
