Microsoft Boss Satya Nadella Gets 66% Raise In 2018-19, Earns $42.9 Million

With Microsoft posting strong results, the company's CEO Satya Nadella has got a 66 per cent raise in the 2018-19 fiscal, taking his total yearly earnings to a whopping USD 42.9 million, according to media reports on Thursday. While Nadella, 52, has a base salary of a little over USD 2.3 million, most of his pay came from stock awards, reported CNN Business. He received USD 29.6 million in stock award, USD 10,7 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and around USD 111,000 in other compensation.

In a proxy statement, Microsoft's independent directors said, "The past fiscal year offered another record year for financial performance, and Microsoft delivered strong results for our shareholders, including a return of USD 30.9 billion in the form of share repurchases and dividends."

The directors credited Nadella for his "strategic leadership, including his efforts to strengthen trust with customers, drive for a company-wide culture change, and successful entry and expansion into new technologies and markets."

In the 2017-18 fiscal, the Hyderabad-born business executive had got a pay of USD 25.8 million.

Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014. Under his leadership, the company has become a major force in cloud computing.

In September, Microsoft hit an all-time high after the company raised its dividend and authorised a plan to buy back as much as USD 40 billion of its own stock, the CNN Business report said.

In comparison to Nadella, Apple CEO Tim Cook got a pay of USD 15.7 million in 2018 with USD 3 million in salary. Google CEO Sundar Pichai received USD 1.9 million in overall compensation. Bloomberg previously reported that Pichai turned down a stock award.