Wall Road’s large wager on AI is beefing up the pockets of a number of the most outstanding leaders within the tech area.
A brand new proxy filing revealed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s pay bundle jumped to $96.5 million in fiscal 2025—the best quantity paid since he grew to become CEO greater than a decade in the past. His earnings embrace 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 partly to the tech giants’ share efficiency, which has seen beneficiant features amid the keenness in direction of AI investments.
In 2025 alone, Microsoft’s inventory worth has risen by 23%, with shares having greater than doubled in worth over the previous three years. At present, Microsoft’s market cap is sort of 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, traders from Wall Road to Most important Road have piled into the AI growth. Citigroup strategists estimate that just about 50% of the S&P 500’s total roughly $57 trillion in market capitalization has “excessive” or “medium” publicity to AI, based on 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 mentioned within the submitting.
Nadella grew to become 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 area, Nadella’s reported pay is a big quantity. For instance, in Might Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang received his first wage increase in a decade, with 2025 pay rising to $49.9 million.
Huang’s pay consists of $6 million that he acquired as a part of a non-equity incentive plan, $38.8 million in inventory awards, and $3.5 million for residential safety, driver companies, safety monitoring, and automotive 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.
As compared, the median complete compensation for CEOs of firms within the S&P 500 was round $17.1 million for 2024, based on recent data. Compensation for tech trade giants tends to be increased, averaging at round $19.3 million in 2024—simply 20% of Nadella’s new pay bundle.
