Killing it! Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is a happy man this year, as he received just below $55 million in compensation in 2022, representing an increase of 10% compared to last year.
His base salary, however, remained the same at $2.5 million. Although that amount may have remained unchanged, his stock awards went up to $42.269 million this year, up from $33 million in 2021.
The software titan, obviously, revealed its performance for this past quarter a few days back.
But these figures actually come from its Proxy Statement 2022, which breaks down a long list of figures, including how much money the company’s CEO took home. That, and other revealing numbers, make for an interesting read.
This is what Microsoft said in its SEC filing:
“During fiscal year 2022, we addressed the need to provide ongoing incentives to Mr. Nadella following the February 2021 final vest of long-term performance stock award granted at Mr. Nadella’s 2014 promotion to CEO.
Mr. Nadella’s criticality to Microsoft’s ongoing success was a regular focus of feedback we received from shareholders, which is consistent with our independent Board members’ high confidence in Mr. Nadella’s exceptional leadership of Microsoft.”
The filing outlines its pay-for-performance figures.
A close inspection reveals that 96% of the $55 million package was based on performance versus 71% in 2021. Nadella did see his non-equity incentive plan compensation fall to $10.6 million, compared to $14.2 million from the year before.
These align with Microsoft’s revenue increase for the fiscal year that ended 2022, where the total amount topped at $198.3 billion.
Compare this with the median pay for Microsoft staffers for the fiscal year, which was $190,302, and it goes to show that shareholders have high confidence in Satya Nadella’s leadership and want to ensure his retention.
