Wall Road’s large guess on AI is beefing up the pockets of a few of the most outstanding leaders within the tech house.
A brand new proxy filing revealed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s pay bundle jumped to $96.5 million in fiscal 2025—the very best quantity paid since he turned CEO greater than a decade in the past. His earnings embody greater than $84 million in inventory awards, over $9.5 million in money incentives, and $196,294 in all different compensation.
Nadella’s sweeping take-home pay was thanks partially to the tech giants’ share efficiency, which has seen beneficiant positive aspects amid the keenness in direction of AI investments.
In 2025 alone, Microsoft’s inventory value has risen by 23%, with shares having greater than doubled in worth over the previous three years. Right this moment, Microsoft’s market cap is nearly at $4 trillion.
Nadella’s compensation is tied to shares—so so long as Microsoft rides the AI wave, so does his pay
Since ChatGPT’s debut in November 2022, buyers from Wall Road to Important Road have piled into the AI growth. Citigroup strategists estimate that almost 50% of the S&P 500’s total roughly $57 trillion in market capitalization has “excessive” or “medium” publicity to AI, in line with a report from Reuters.
Regardless of these investments, many warn it might be a bubble waiting to burst, equally to the dot-com bubble within the late 90s. However for now, so long as Microsoft rides the AI wave, so does its CEO’s pay. About 90% of his compensation, which features a $2.5 million wage, is in Microsoft shares, the corporate stated within the submitting.
Nadella turned Microsoft’s third CEO in 2014, with a $84.3 million compensation bundle. In a observe to shareholders, the board compensation committee wrote that his elevated wage displays his success in positioning “Microsoft as a transparent synthetic intelligence chief for this generational expertise shift.”
Nadella’s pay in comparison with different tech CEOs
In comparison with different leaders within the tech house, Nadella’s reported pay is a big quantity. For instance, in Might Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acquired his first wage increase in a decade, with 2025 pay rising to $49.9 million.
Huang’s pay contains $6 million that he obtained as a part of a non-equity incentive plan, $38.8 million in inventory awards, and $3.5 million for residential safety, driver providers, safety monitoring, and automobile bills.
Apple chief exec Tim Cook dinner made greater than $74.6 million in 2024. His pay included $58.1 million in inventory awards, $12 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $1.5 million in different compensation.
Compared, the median complete compensation for CEOs of corporations within the S&P 500 was round $17.1 million for 2024, in line with recent data. Compensation for tech trade giants tends to be greater, averaging at round $19.3 million in 2024—simply 20% of Nadella’s new pay bundle.
