Satya Nadella’s pay soars to $96.5 million as Microsoft credits AI leadership for record year
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella’s compensation surged to $96.5 million for the 2024–2025 financial year — his highest since taking charge more than a decade ago.
The company’s board linked the jump in his pay to Microsoft’s advances in artificial intelligence (AI), Bloomberg reported.
The board’s compensation committee, in a note to shareholders included in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, 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.”
The filing revealed that about 90 percent of Nadella’s total pay — which includes a $2.5 million base salary — came in the form of Microsoft shares.
His compensation stood at $79.1 million in the previous financial year.
Nadella, who became Microsoft’s third CEO in 2014, has now reached his highest earnings since then.
Pay packages for Nadella’s top executives also climbed in the year ended June.
Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood received $29.5 million, while Judson Althoff, who was recently promoted to head Microsoft’s commercial business, earned $28.2 million.
Shares of the world’s largest software firm have risen 23 percent this year through Tuesday’s close.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform has consistently outperformed rivals like Amazon.com Inc. in growth.
Nadella is credited with driving Microsoft’s transformation into a cloud powerhouse.
Early on, he recognised the potential of cloud computing and pushed the expansion of Azure, which now rivals Amazon Web Services in market share.
He also broadened Microsoft’s reach through strategic acquisitions such as GitHub and LinkedIn and bolstered its gaming arm with major deals, including the purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI when it was still a little-known start-up.
With ChatGPT’s success, OpenAI became synonymous with AI innovation.
Microsoft later deepened the partnership with another $10 billion investment and has since integrated AI features across nearly all its products and services.
Satya Nadella’s career path
Born and raised in Hyderabad, Nadella earned a degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University in 1988.
After moving to the U.S., he obtained a master’s in computer science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1990 and joined Sun Microsystems’ technology team.
He joined Microsoft in 1992, contributing initially to the development of Windows NT, an operating system for business users.
Over time, he rose through the ranks, becoming president of Microsoft’s server and tools division and later executive vice president overseeing cloud operations.
On February 4, 2014, Nadella was appointed Microsoft’s CEO, becoming the third person to lead the company after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
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