Most of the compensation comes in the form of stock, about $84 million, while $9.5 million is awarded through cash incentives. Nadell’s base salary is $2.5 million. According to the portal Windows Centralthe company recorded annual revenue of $281.7 billion, representing a 15% year-over-year increase.
In July, Microsoft became the second company in the world to reach a market value of $4 trillion, joining NVIDIA. The biggest contribution to growth came from the cloud service Azure, which achieved a 34% increase in revenue, surpassing $75 billion for the first time.
The company cited Nadella’s key achievements in a report on the award, including strengthening Microsoft’s role in the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure, the launch of the Majorana-1 quantum chip, double-digit revenue growth and the expansion of Copilot apps, which now have more than 100 million monthly active users. In addition, Azure AI Foundry was launched, which helps users design and manage AI applications at scale.
Microsoft’s Compensation Committee stated that “Satya Nadella and his leadership team have positioned Microsoft as the clear leader in artificial intelligence for this generational technological shift.”
Nadella, who took over as CEO in 2014 from Steve Ballmer, was earning about $18 million at the time, which is a modest amount compared to this year’s $96.5 million.
However, the record earnings are overshadowed by the fact that more than 15,000 employees were laid off this year. Microsoft cut its workforce by 3% in May, and new layoffs followed in June, July and September, including 9,000 workers worldwide and dozens more at its Redmond headquarters.
As noted, “it’s always a sad story and all too common for a company that generates billions of dollars in revenue. But that’s how capitalism works.” In a blog post earlier this year, Nadella thanked everyone who left the company, expressing “sincere gratitude to those who have left.”
(Vijesti.ba)
