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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s total compensation for the financial year 2024–2025 has surged to $96.5 million, his highest since taking charge more than a decade ago. The sharp increase reflects Microsoft’s rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing under his leadership.

In a note to shareholders, Microsoft’s board said Nadella and his leadership team have “successfully positioned Microsoft as a global leader in AI during a generational technology shift.”

The company’s regulatory filing shows that around 90 per cent of Nadella’s compensation came in the form of Microsoft shares, alongside a base salary of $2.5 million. In comparison, he earned $79.1 million in the previous financial year. Nadella, who became Microsoft’s third CEO in 2014 after Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates, has overseen a remarkable transformation of the company’s business model.

The filing also revealed pay hikes for Microsoft’s top executives. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood earned $29.5 million, while Judson Althoff, head of the company’s commercial business, received $28.2 million.

Microsoft shares have gained about 23 per cent this year, buoyed by strong performance in its Azure cloud division, which continues to outpace Amazon Web Services.

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In his Annual Letter 2025, Nadella said Microsoft is “at the heart of a generational moment in technology” as AI reshapes every layer of computing. He revealed that LinkedIn has now reached 1.2 billion members globally, while Azure surpassed $75 billion in annual revenue for the first time.

The company’s revenue for FY2025 rose 15 per cent to $281.7 billion, with AI-powered tools playing a key role. Microsoft’s Copilot family of products has crossed 100 million monthly active users, spanning work, education, and personal applications.

Products like Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot are now helping professionals and developers work faster and smarter, while new features such as Agent Mode allow users to automate complex workflows through simple prompts.

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Satya Nadella, an Indian born and raised in Hyderabad, received his bachelor's degree in engineering from Mangalore University in 1988 and obtained a master's degree in computer science from Wisconsin–Milwaukee University. In 1992 he connected with Microsoft and very soon he got promoted, taking charge of different departments until in 2014 he became CEO.

Upon his appointment, Nadella made a major shift in Microsoft. He took it to be a company driven by AI and first focused on the cloud. His initial gamble on the cloud drew Azure to be among the best cloud platforms in the world, and at the same time, smart purchases—LinkedIn, GitHub, and Activision Blizzard—opened up new places for Microsoft in software, professional networking, and gaming.

To one of Nadella’s decisions that left a strong mark was not only supporting OpenAI but doing it when no one knew the latter as a research startup. The original $1 billion investment of Microsoft grew into a partnership for the long run and later expanded to $10 billion as ChatGPT became a world-wide success.

OpenAI’s today technology that functions throughout Microsoft’s ecosystem, from Office apps and Windows to Azure and Bing, is what keeps the company at the very front of AI revolution.