Take it on the chin SatNad: Microsoft chief exec's pay slips 6% in record year

Satya Nadella’s total compensation for Microsoft's fiscal 2026 saw a 6 percent reduction compared to the preceding year.

The software and cloud leader earned $90.6 million, which comprised a $2.5 million base salary, $77.6 million from stock awards, $10.3 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, and $259,203 in other compensation, mainly covering pension contributions, charitable gifts, and security for personal travel.

Despite achieving all financial and operational goals, Nadella’s award was lower because stock vesting rates change yearly.

Microsoft’s fiscal 2026 revenue, ending June 30, climbed 18 percent to $331.8 billion, while operating profit rose 18 percent to $155.237 billion, surpassing the $130.96 billion target set by Nadella. These areas represented 70 percent of the CEO's compensation objectives.

The company also saw its Cloud division revenue jump 27 percent to $214.4 billion. Furthermore, Microsoft added 88 datacenters and secured 30 million paid Copilot seats.

Microsoft asserted that "The scale of adoption reflects growing customer confidence in Microsoft's ability to deliver enterprise-ready AI capabilities integrated directly into existing workflows." The firm also reported delivering "625 Copilot updates during the year, reflecting its rapid pace of innovation and commitment to customer feedback."

GitHub reached 225 million users, with 50 million utilizing Copilot, and one in three "pull requests involving an agent." Industry-specific AI services expanded, with Dragon Copilot for healthcare now assisting "100,000 healthcare providers to help automate administrative and clinical workflows."

Other C-suite members saw compensation increases, though their packages were not as substantial as the CEO's. CFO Amy Hood received $33.7 million, up from $29.5 million, while the company returned $43.8 billion to shareholders over the twelve months.