Microsoft CEO's new $79.1 million pay package represents a massive 63% increase despite a year of layoffs and cybersecurity failures

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaking on stage. — (Image credit: Tim Mosenfelder via Getty images.)

If you've had a rather good year in your current employment, it's reasonable to expect that you might receive a bump in your pay package to reflect all that hard work. And if things have been going less than ideally, well, you'd probably expect to be paid the same, or perhaps even have your role reappraised.

Not so at Microsoft it seems, as despite a year of layoffs and highly public security incidents, head honcho Satya Nadella has received a whopping 63% increase in his pay package compared to the previous year.

Around 90% of that package for the year ending in June was in Microsoft shares, according to the company's most recent regulatory filings (via Bloomberg). That adds up to a total worth $79.1 million, although it would have been $5 million higher if not for a personally requested pay cut to reflect "personal accountability" for changes brought about in the wake of the company's previous cybersecurity troubles.

This led to the Microsoft president Brad Smith conceding the cybersecurity failures in front of the US Congress, saying at the time “we acknowledge that we can and must do better, and we apologize and express our deepest regrets to those who have been impacted.”

The company also carried out two major mass layoffs this year, with 1,900 jobs lost at Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January, followed by 650 further layoffs last month. Activision Blizzard was purchased by Microsoft for $69 billion in October 2023, and thanks to these layoffs has let go of over 2,500 of its staff since then. Microsoft also shuttered four studios—Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games and Roundhouse games, in May of this year.

Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy spends his time jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC gaming hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.