Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received his highest annual compensation since taking his current job role over a decade ago, earning a staggering $96.5 million for fiscal year 2025. This increased pay package, which rose significantly from his annual salary the previous year – $79.1 million – highlights Microsoft’s surging success, driven primarily by its aggressive expansions in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
In a note to shareholders, the company’s board compensation committee attributed the substantial boost to Satya Nadella‘s strategic vision over the past decade, ever since he took over the role of CEO. The board stated that Nadella and his leadership team have “positioned Microsoft as a clear artificial intelligence leader for this generational technology shift.”
The majority of the CEO’s compensation — nearly 90% of the total — is tied up in Microsoft shares, aligning his financial interests directly with the company’s long-term stock performance. Nadella’s base salary still remains a modest $2.5 million.
Satya Nadella earned almost $100 million in FY25
Nadella, who became Microsoft’s third CEO in 2014, has been instrumental in driving the company toward cloud computing (Azure) in the previous decade. More recently, Nadella worked hard to integrate generative AI across Microsoft’s product portfolio, a strategy that saw the company’s market valuations soar.
Nadella’s top executive team also saw significant pay increases. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood earned $29.5 million, while Judson Althoff, who leads Microsoft’s commercial business, received a package totaling $28.2 million.
Microsoft’s recent lead in generative AI is not just about large-scale investments – they are tied to a strategic partnership with OpenAI. Under Nadella, Microsoft has utilised its multi-billion-dollar stake in OpenAI to exclusively integrate models like GPT-4 and DALL-E across its entire product suite. This strategy resulted in the launch of Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant now embedded into Windows, Office 365, and the Edge browser.
Beyond the AI front, Nadella has worked hard to grow Microsoft’s core business pillars, especially its cloud platform, Azure. Azure continues to be the closest competitor to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is benefiting immensely from global corporate spending on digital transformation. Under Nadella’s tenure, Microsoft completed its largest-ever acquisition of Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. The company also laid off thousands of employees from across its global offices lately in a bid to modernise its operations by integrating AI into workspaces.
