Nadella's Pay Skyrockets as Microsoft Surges Past $3.6 Trillion
MICROSOFT CEO SATYA NADELLA'S total compensation has skyrocketed from $18 million in 2015 to $96.5 million at the end of fiscal 2025, making him one of the world's highest-paid CEOs.
The massive increase was due to more than 95% of Nadella's pay being tied directly to performance stock units linked to Microsoft's shares. The better Microsoft performs, the higher Nadella's compensation becomes.
Nadella took over in 2014 and shifted the company's focus to 'mobile first, cloud first,' funneling talent and capital into Azure. This pivot paid off, with Azure revenue doubling and tripling in the mid-2010s, and Microsoft recently reporting $100 billion in fiscal 2026 Azure cloud revenue.
The success of Azure was a major catalyst for Microsoft's growth, boosting its market cap from $300 billion in 2014 to over $3.6 trillion today. Another significant factor has been Microsoft's investment in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly through its partnership with OpenAI and the integration of AI into its popular enterprise software.
MICROSOFT'S AI Copilot business has grown rapidly, with over 30 million paid seats in the most recent quarter. The company also earned nearly $5 billion from its OpenAI stake in fiscal 2026, and Microsoft's board praised Nadella for positioning the company as a clear AI leader.