Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received a record $96.5 million in 2025, a 22% increase from the previous year. Of this amount, $84 million was in company stock, $9.5 million was a bonus, and $2.5 million was a fixed salary. The impressive compensation coincided with the largest wave of layoffs in the corporation's history in recent years.
Since the beginning of 2025, Microsoft has eliminated over 15,000 jobs in various divisions, including the gaming sector and sales department. The largest layoff occurred in July, when 9,000 people lost their jobs, representing about 4% of the total workforce of 228,000 employees. In May, the company cut another 6,000.
In a letter to shareholders, Nadella stated that the decisions were among the most difficult during his leadership. Despite the crisis and downturn in the gaming industry, Microsoft reported a 15 percent increase in revenue compared to last year, actively promotes Copilot AI-based tools, and expands its global cloud infrastructure.
According to a former vice president of human resources, cutting top management salaries cannot compensate for the costs of preserving jobs, which in Microsoft's case amount to up to a billion dollars for every 10,000 employees.
