\n<\/p>\n
Microsoft’s chief executive Satya Nadella earned $79.1m (\u00a361m) last year, a rise of 63% compared to his compensation the year before.<\/p>\n
That was despite a request from Mr Nadella to reduce one element of his pay package because of cybersecurity flaws at the tech giant – which resulted in him getting $5m less than he otherwise would have.<\/p>\n
In common with many tech firms, Microsoft has cut thousands of jobs this year, including many in its gaming division.<\/a><\/p>\n But in a proxy statement<\/a> filed with the US financial regulator, the board said the company’s revenue grew by 16% in the year to 30 June 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Mr. Nadella agreed that the Company\u2019s performance was extremely strong,” Microsoft’s compensation committee wrote in a letter to shareholders.<\/p>\n It added he asked them “to consider departing from the established performance metrics and reduce his cash incentive to reflect his personal accountability” over a number of cyber attacks.<\/p>\n One such attack was reported<\/a> in July 2023 by Microsoft, where hackers gained access to the email accounts of around 25 organisations, including government agencies.<\/p>\n Microsoft said the attack originated in China, though the Chinese embassy in London called this “disinformation”.<\/p>\n The fiscal period runs up to 30 June 2024 – just weeks before the massive internet outage<\/a> which affected Microsoft Windows PCs, causing chaos around the world.<\/p>\n While that was not a cyber attack, later in July Microsoft apologised for another outage<\/a> which was caused by a cyber attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The compensation committee said it reduced Mr Nadella’s cash pay by more than half, to $5.2m.<\/p>\n That represents less than 7% of his total pay.<\/p>\n The bulk of his pay, $71.2m, was made up of stock options.<\/p>\n High Pay Centre director Luke Hildyard said “superficially” the earnings made sense given Microsoft’s strong financial performance.<\/p>\n “However, we might also ask whether the extra $79 million on top of $49 million last year for someone who is already worth hundreds of millions, with more money than they could spent over multiple lifetimes of absolute luxury, is really necessary as a reward of incentive,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n “None of Microsoft’s success would be possible without workers, customers and wider society so perhaps the proceeds of that success should be share a little more evenly,” he added.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in big tech, Apple boss Tim Cook earned $63.2m in 2023, while the chief executive of the world’s most valuable company Nvidia, Jensen Huang, was paid $34.2m in the 2024 fiscal year.<\/p>\n But none of them come close to Tesla boss Elon Musk, whose pay packet could be worth up to $56bn.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n