By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – According to the regulatory filing on Wednesday, nearly 90% of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s pay, which includes a $2.5 million base salary in Microsoft shares.
He earned $79.1 million in the previous financial year, the company said in a press statement.
The compensation of Satya Nadella, the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation surged to $96.5 million for the financial year 2024-2025.
It is his highest since assuming the role more than a decade ago.
Nadella became Microsoft’s third CEO in 2014.
The package includes $84 million in stock awards, $9.5 million in cash incentives, and a $2.5 million base salary, with 90 per cent tied to stock performance.
The board’s compensation committee in a note to shareholders wrote that the filing said the results demonstrate that Satya Nadella and his leadership team have positioned Microsoft as a clear artificial intelligence leader for this generational technology shift.
Microsoft made a $1 billion investment in AI start-up OpenAI under Nadella’s leadership, media reported
It deepened the partnership with an additional $10 billion investment and has since embedded AI features across nearly all its products and services.
Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood’s total compensation stood at $29.5 million, while Judson Althoff, elevated to lead Microsoft’s commercial business, received a package worth $28.2 million.
In 2025 shares of Microsoft climbed 23% with company’s stock has more than doubled over the past three years.
Microsoft has faced workforce challenges. This included the layoff of over 15,000 employees in 2025 and the termination of employees protesting the company’s contracts with Israel.
Satya Nadella was born in Hyderabad and earned a degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University in 1988.
He moved to the United States and completed a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1990.
