Microsoft paid its CEO Satya Nadella a total compensation of $42.9 million in the last fiscal year, the company announced. This is a 66 percent increase when compared to the compensation Nadella received in the preceding fiscal year.

The hike also saw the base salary of Nadella jump by $ 1 million in addition to an increase in company stocks under his control. "Nadella's strategic leadership, including his efforts to strengthen trust with customers, drive for a company-wide culture change, and successful entry and expansion into new technologies and markets," said company directors in a statement released on Wednesday.

However, the salary is nowhere near the $84.3 million Nadella received in 2014 fiscal when he took over the reign from Steve Ballmer.

The rise in the salary of Nadella, who heads one the most valued company in the globe comes amidst a steady and impressive performance by the tech giant under his leadership. As per the company release, the tech giant performed extremely well during the last fiscal year, which included a return of $30.9 billion in the form of share repurchases and dividends.

Further, in the five years since Nadella came to the helm of the tech giant, Microsoft's market capitalisation increased by $509 billion to $811 billion from $302 billion. The tech firm also earned in the last June quarter revenue of $33.7 billion and net income of $13.2 billion.

But it is not just for the sheer revenue growth that has come under Nadella’s leadership. The firm recently took over the position of the most valued company in the globe from Apple. Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has risen its stature in the Intelligent Cloud business by presenting the Azure cloud as a serious threat to Amazon Web Services.

(With IANS Inputs)

First Published:Oct 18, 2019 3:32 PM IST