Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai’s compensation package increased to $226 million in 2022. His pay package was boosted by a triennial stock grant. As a result, Pichai become one of the highest-paid corporate leaders in the world and dwarfed the compensation of several Silicon Valley peers.

According to a report from the parent company of Google on Friday, his salary decreased from $6.3 million the previous year, when he didn’t receive the stock reward. Over the last three years, his pay has stayed constant at $2 million.

The industry that the 50-year-old CEO has been navigating has become more competitive, with AI products like the chatbot ChatGPT from startup OpenAI posing a threat to Google’s hegemony in the search market. The company has suffered as a result of the general IT slump, with shares falling 39% in 2022. They did, however, stage a comeback in 2023, gaining 19%.

Speaking of Pichai’s stock award, it comes on a three-year schedule. He was offered a similar-sized compensation in 2019. That year, he was awarded a pay package of $281 million.

Pichai’s Increased Pay Package Becomes A Touchy Topic

CEO compensation has been particularly contentious in the technology sector, especially in light of the recent wave of layoffs at Alphabet and other significant companies. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple Inc., cut his 2023 salary after receiving criticism after earning $100 million in each of the previous two years.

In 2022, Pichai’s compensation pushed him far ahead of other Alphabet leaders. Both Philipp Schindler, chief business officer, as well as Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president of Google’s knowledge and information, made roughly $37 million each. Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer, received $24.5 million in pay. They award stock grants are given to employees each year.

Following months of various actions to decrease spending and establish new objectives, Alphabet began slashing around 12,000 workers, or 6% of its global workforce, in January. According to the filing, the median total remuneration for employees at Alphabet in 2022 was $279,802. The settlement for Pichai was 808 times that sum.  According to the report, Pichai’s personal protection cost Alphabet $5.94 million as part of his salary package.

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