Mr Nadella’s total pay still rose to $79.1m, up 63pc on last year. He makes a salary of $2.5m and was awarded $71.2m in Microsoft shares, largely based on existing performance plans. The package is likely to make him one of the world’s highest-paid executives.
Mr Nadella became Microsoft’s chief executive in 2014 and the company’s share price has risen more than tenfold since then, jostling with Apple and Nvidia for the position of world’s most valuable business.
His total compensation since then has been worth more than $1 billion thanks to the company’s share boom, although Microsoft said last year that Mr Nadella himself is not a billionaire.
“Since the board of directors appointed Mr Nadella as the third chief executive officer in its history in 2014, Microsoft has nearly tripled revenue to $245.1bn, nearly quadrupled net income to $88.1bn, and more than quadrupled diluted earnings per share to $11.80,” Microsoft said in the filing.
“In addition to another year of consistently strong financial performance, Mr Nadella and his leadership team have positioned Microsoft to continue to drive performance for years to come.”