$96.5 million for Nadella | Microsoft’s CEO receives record pay in a year that saw 15,000+ layoffs

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Microsoft reported a strong financial year, and CEO Satya Nadella’s compensation reflects that success. He earned $96.5 million, a roughly 22% increase from the $79 million he made last year.

According to a recent filing, Satya Nadella’s compensation package includes approximately $84 million in stock awards and $9.5 million in cash bonuses. Beyond that, he receives a base salary of $2.5 million.

Satya Nadella’s recent financial gains come as Microsoft benefits from the surge in artificial intelligence. The company has heavily invested in AI through its products, infrastructure, and collaborations. This success recently led Microsoft to join NVIDIA as only the second company to reach a market value of $4 trillion.

Although revenue dipped below $4 trillion in recent months, Microsoft has had a remarkably successful year. Their 2025 fourth-quarter earnings show total revenue reached $281.7 billion, a 15% increase.

Azure led the way with a remarkable 34% jump in revenue, exceeding $75 billion for the first time ever. This growth is largely due to increasing demand for the computing power needed to run artificial intelligence applications.

The proxy filing includes details regarding Nadella’s AI-specific achievements:

  • Strengthened our role in shaping the AI infrastructure wave, adding more than two gigawatts of capacity, increasing our global footprint to over 400 facilities across 70 regions, and making every region AI-first.
  • Drove progress toward a utility scale quantum computer with the introduction Majorana-1, the first quantum chip powered by a topological core, marking a pivotal moment in quantum computing.
  • Achieved double digit revenue growth (15% year-over-year), affirming our success at developing products and services our customers value.
  • Furthered adoption of our family of Copilot apps, with Copilot apps surpassing 100 million monthly active users.
  • Launched Azure AI Foundry, helping customers design, customize, and manage AI applications and agents at scale, supporting more than 70,000 customers, including 80% of the Fortune 500.

Microsoft’s Compensation Committee stated in a recent letter that Satya Nadella and his team have successfully made Microsoft a leading company in the field of artificial intelligence. This leadership is expected to fuel Microsoft’s future growth through ongoing innovation, strong security, and high-quality products.

Satya Nadella became Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer. His compensation has increased significantly since then. While he earned around $18 million in 2015, his pay reached $96.5 million by 2025.

Satya Nadella released his yearly letter to investors alongside the public release of company proxy information, once again highlighting Microsoft’s primary focus for 2025.

We believe we need to consistently prove our worth – in every location, community, and with every person we interact with. This commitment stems from our core mission: to help everyone and every organization around the world accomplish their goals.

2025 was a big year for Microsoft AI … and Microsoft layoffs

Okay, so it’s hard to get too excited about these huge executive payouts when you remember Microsoft had significant layoffs in 2025. It just feels a little off to celebrate big wins for some while others lost their jobs, you know?

So far, over 15,000 jobs have been cut, starting in January 2025 with layoffs affecting various industries like gaming and security.

As a researcher tracking the tech industry, I’ve been following the recent changes at Microsoft. In May, reports surfaced that they were reducing their workforce by about 3%, primarily impacting management positions – this translated to around 6,000 jobs. Then, in June, we saw another round of cuts, with 305 employees in Washington state being affected.

After its fiscal year ended in July, Microsoft announced it was laying off 9,000 employees globally, impacting workers at all levels and in many different locations. Then, in September, the company cut over 40 more positions at its headquarters in Redmond.

Look, when a company gets as huge as Microsoft – with almost 230,000 people working there – layoffs just seem inevitable, sadly. It’s still really tough to hear, especially when they’re making so much money. But honestly, it feels like that’s just the way things are with how businesses operate these days.

Earlier this year, Microsoft’s CEO wrote a blog post thanking employees who had recently left the company.

I want to address the recent job eliminations right away, as it’s something I know is on everyone’s mind. As a researcher here, I can tell you these were incredibly difficult decisions. We’re talking about people I’ve worked with, learned from, and genuinely consider colleagues, teammates, and friends – and seeing them leave is deeply upsetting.

Satya Nadella

Former Microsoft HR leader Chris Williams explains why CEOs, like Satya Nadella, generally don’t reduce their own salaries when the company is laying off employees.

I was reading Williams’ analysis, and it seems simply reducing executive salaries wouldn’t make up for the savings a company gets from layoffs. He used Microsoft as an example, pointing out that the cost of around 10,000 employees can easily reach a billion dollars – a sum that’s much larger than what someone like CEO Satya Nadella earns.

Satya Nadella’s total compensation is $96.5 million, including his salary, bonuses, and stock options. While he earns around $12 million in salary and bonuses, that amount isn’t enough to cover the costs for Microsoft’s 15,000 employees. I’m not defending the recent layoffs, but it’s important to understand that executive compensation is complex.

According to Windows Central’s Jez Corden, Microsoft’s focus on increasing its stock price instead of delivering excellent products might cause problems for the company in the future, especially considering the recent layoffs planned for 2025.

It’s big money now, but big money doesn’t always last forever.

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2025-10-22 17:11