Google has decided $692 million is the right number to keep Sundar Pichai working for the next three years.
The outfit has jacked up the chief executive’s total potential pay to that figure, putting him among the world’s overpaid best-paid bosses.
The bulk comes as performance stock units with a target value of $126 million, split evenly into two tranches. They hinge on Alphabet’s total shareholder return versus the rest of the S&P 100 and can pay up to double, or $252 million, or nothing if it flops.
He is set for $84 million in restricted stock over the next three years, vesting roughly monthly if he stays put, plus a $2 million annual salary. Google sweetened the deal with two new stock incentives worth as much as $350 million tied to its Waymo robotaxi arm and Wing drone delivery start-up.
Pichai receives Waymo stock valued at $130 million and Wing Aviation shares valued at $45 million, based on their “fair value” in three years’ time. Both awards can pay up to 200 per cent of target, taking the maximum payout to $692 million, with a baseline of $391 million in stock and salary.
Alphabet’s board said: “Waymo and Wing are tackling enormous challenges in autonomous driving and delivery, have made strong progress under Mr Pichai’s supervision. Further incentivising Mr Pichai is in the best interests of Alphabet and its stockholders.”
Since Pichai took over in August 2015, Google’s market capitalisation has jumped almost sevenfold from $535 billion to $3.6 trillion, briefly topping $4 trillion in January. That run has turned the 53-year-old former McKinsey consultant into a billionaire, which makes the retention bribe feel a bit rich.
He joined in 2004 and built his name on Chrome and Android, then took flak for moving slowly on AI while OpenAI grabbed the early limelight with ChatGPT in late 2022. Google later pushed out its own models and wired AI into search, while juggling two antitrust cases on search and the app store and staring at a third on ad tech.
Pichai last landed a stock award in December 2022 worth $218 million, structured the same way. His package is topped up by personal security costs, which rose to $8.3million in 2024, the most recent filing available.
Earlier in the week, he sold 32,500 class C shares at an average price of $303, for roughly $9.8million. Bloomberg’s billionaire index estimates he has sold about $650 million in stock since becoming chief executive, while he and his wife Anjali hold 1.67 million Google shares worth $498million at Friday’s $298 price.
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page still control the place through “super-voting” class B stock, giving them 56 per cent of decision-making power. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella pulled in $96.5million in fiscal 2025, while the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple boss Tim Cook banked $74.3million in 2025.
