Microsoft (Microsoft) has given its Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella, a raise of over $30 million for the fiscal year of 2024. However, without a series of cyberattacks, his total compensation would be $5.5 million higher.
A proxy filing submitted on Thursday revealed that for the fiscal year ending June 30th, Nadella's earnings amounted to $79.1 million, an increase from the previous year's $48.5 million. The majority of his salary was paid in the form of stocks. The board's compensation committee stated that Nadella requested that the cash incentive portion reflect security issues.
In April of this year, following an independent investigation into the intrusion of U.S. government officials' email accounts, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report. Microsoft disclosed the incident in July 2023.
In January of this year, Microsoft announced that Russian intelligence agencies had infiltrated the email accounts of some of the company's executives.
Microsoft stated that it would improve its practices to address the shortcomings highlighted in the government report, which stated, "Customers will benefit from the direct attention of its CEO and board to the company's security culture."
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In a memo to employees in May, Nadella informed them that Microsoft would prioritize security. In June of this year, Microsoft indicated that it would consider employees' efforts in cybersecurity when determining their compensation.
The cash incentive portion of Nadella's compensation primarily took into account the software manufacturer's performance in terms of revenue and operating income targets. The initial plan was for $10.66 million, but the board unanimously approved a $5.2 million cash incentive.
The committee wrote: "Mr. Nadella agreed that the company's performance was very strong, but considering his personal commitment to security and his role as CEO, he requested the board to consider deviating from the established performance indicators and reduce his cash incentive to reflect his personal responsibility for the focus and speed of necessary changes in response to the current cybersecurity threat landscape."
Microsoft's security business generated over $20 billion in revenue in 2022, surpassing the total revenue of many security companies.
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