Microsoft's chief executive's pay rose 63% to $100m despite his request for a pay cut

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella received a compensation package worth US $79.1 million (S $100 million) in fiscal 2024, up 63 per cent from fiscal 2023, as the software maker works to expand its strong position in artificial intelligence tools.

In a regulatory filing Thursday (Oct. 24), Microsoft said about 90 percent of Nadella's compensation in the year ended June was in Microsoft stock. It was his biggest pay package since 2014, when he became Microsoft's third CEO and received $84 million.

The Microsoft board's compensation committee wrote in the filing that if Mr. Nadella had not requested the pay cut, his compensation would have increased by about $5 million "to reflect his personal responsibility for the changes the company is making to address cybersecurity risks."

Microsoft has faced increasing scrutiny over a series of embarrassing hacks of its software in recent years, including from the US Cybersecurity Review Board.