China ruined Satya Nadella’s peace? Microsoft CEO’s earnings cut by Rs 5.5 million

Satya Nadella Salary Cut: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s salary saw a 63% increase for fiscal year 2024. As reported by the company in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nadella’s total compensation for the financial year ending June 30 was approximately $79.1 million (approximately Rs 665 crore).

According to TOI report, this increase was mainly due to stock awards. The filing showed that his stock awards increased to $71 million from $39 million last year. SEC filings revealed that Nadella had voluntarily requested a reduction in cash compensation.

He was originally scheduled to receive $10.7 million, but his cash incentive was reduced to $5.2 million. His 2024 compensation included a base salary of $2.5 million and $170,000 in other benefits.

Why did Satya Nadella request for cuts?

The cash cut was requested following multiple cybersecurity breaches, including a significant Microsoft outage in July 2023 that affected users globally. Additionally, the US Department of Homeland Security released a report in April 2024 detailing an independent investigation into the cyber breach of US officials’ email accounts by Chinese actors.

In July, Microsoft acknowledged the breach. Earlier in the year, Microsoft confirmed that Russian intelligence had accessed email accounts belonging to top Microsoft executives.

“Nadella agreed that the company’s performance was extremely strong, but given his personal commitment to safety and his role as CEO, he asked the board to deviate from established performance metrics and use his cash,” the filing said. Asked to consider reducing incentives to reflect their individual accountability for the focus and speed needed to make the changes needed in today’s cyber security threat landscape.”

The details of Satya Nadeli’s income are like this-

Stock Award: $71,236,392 (approximately Rs 600 crore)

Non-Equity Incentive Plan: $5.2 million (approximately Rs 44 crore)

Base Salary: $2.5 million (over Rs 21 crore)

Miscellaneous compensation: $169,791 (approximately Rs 15 lakh)

How was the company’s performance under the leadership of Nadella?

The SEC filing highlighted the company’s performance under Nadella’s leadership. Since he became CEO in 2014, Microsoft’s revenue has nearly tripled to $245.1 billion (roughly Rs. 2,060 crores), while net income has nearly quadrupled to $88.1 billion (roughly Rs. 740 crores). Earnings per share have also increased by more than four times and have reached $ 11.80 (approximately Rs 99 crore).

Also read: Microsoft CEO Net Worth: How rich is Satya Nadella? You will be surprised to know his net worth