Microsoft’s CEO Got A 66% Raise For Doing This

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella has received a 66% raise in which the company cited was for “strategic leadership.”

The CEO has received more money from Microsoft in the most recent fiscal year as the company achieved business targets and grew its stock price.

Nadella received $42.9 million in total compensation, which was mostly in stock awards, in the 2019 fiscal year that ended on June 30th. This is according to Microsoft’s annual proxy statement, which came out on Wednesday. This figure is a growth of 66% from the prior fiscal year but lower than the $84.3 million Nadella received in the 2014 fiscal year. 2014 is when he took over from Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft’s independent directors pointed to “Mr. Nadella’s strategic leadership, including his efforts to strengthen trust with customers, drive for a company-wide culture change, and successful entry and expansion into new technologies and markets.”

The directors cited the growth of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud business, which includes the Azure cloud.

“During the first five-year performance period, Microsoft’s market capitalization increased $509 billion (from $302 billion to $811 billion), and Microsoft’s relative TSR was in the 97th percentile, resulting in Mr. Nadella earning and vesting in the maximum 900,000 shares,” Microsoft said in the filing.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and have not been compensated for this article.