Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at an event at the company’s campus in Redmond, Washington, on May 20, 2024.
Chona Kassinger | Bloomberg | Getty Images
microsoft The company gave CEO Satya Nadella a raise of more than $30 million in fiscal 2024. But his total would have been $5.5 million higher had it not been for a series of cyberattacks.
According to one source, Mr. Nadella received $79.1 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, up from $48.5 million the previous year. proxy Submitted on Thursday. Most of his salary is paid in the form of stock. The board’s compensation committee said Mr. Nadella asked that the cash incentive component reflect security issues.
The request for cuts came after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a report in April based on an independent investigation into China’s breach of email accounts of senior U.S. government officials. Microsoft announced the incident in July 2023.
Microsoft announced in January that Russian intelligence had accessed some of its executives’ email accounts.
Microsoft said it would revamp its business practices to address the shortcomings highlighted in the government report and that “customers will benefit from a CEO and board of directors focused directly on the company’s security culture.”
Mr. Nadella responded to his employees: May memo At Microsoft, we believe in security above all else. Microsoft announced in June that it would consider employees’ cybersecurity efforts when determining compensation.
The cash incentive portion of Nadella’s salary primarily takes into account the software maker’s performance against its revenue and operating profit targets. Originally scheduled for $10.66 million, the full board instead approved $5.2 million in cash incentives.
“Mr. Nadella agreed that the company’s performance was very strong, but given his personal commitment to security and his role as CEO, he deviated from established performance metrics and took personal responsibility. “We asked the Board to consider reducing the cash incentive to reflect the changes represented by today’s cybersecurity threat landscape that required focus and speed,” the committee wrote.
Microsoft’s security business generated more than $20 billion in revenue in 2022, which is more than the combined revenue of many security companies.
