Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai earned a staggering $226 million in 2022, making him one of the world's best-paid bosses. The majority of his compensation came from stock awards worth $218 million, while his base annual salary of $2 million remained unchanged since 2020.
Other top executives at Alphabet also enjoyed hefty paychecks last year. Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior Vice President of Google's Knowledge and Information, and Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler each made approximately $37 million according to the recent filing. In contrast, the median compensation for an Alphabet employee was just under $280,000.
In addition to his salary and stocks, Pichai received nearly $6 million for personal security services. This marks a significant increase for the CEO who previously made just over $6 million in 2021 and around $7.4 million in 2020.
This news comes as layoffs hit not only Alphabet but other tech giants such as Meta (formerly Facebook) and Twitter. In January alone, Alphabet announced it would be cutting around 12,000 jobs as part of cost restructuring measures.
The situation is reminiscent of Apple where shareholders recently criticized CEO Tim Cook’s massive pay packages; he received around $100 million in both 2021 and 2022. As a result of this backlash, Cook has requested that his pay be reduced in 2023.
Financial expert Sarah Johnson commented on these executive payouts: "It's crucial for companies like Alphabet to maintain transparency with their employees about executive compensations during times when layoffs are happening across the sector."
Despite criticism surrounding these high salaries amidst job losses within the tech industry, supporters argue that CEOs like Sundar Pichai have played pivotal roles leading their respective companies through global challenges including economic downturns and public health crises brought on by the pandemic.
As Alphabet and other major tech companies continue to navigate these challenges, it will be interesting to see how their executive compensations evolve in response to shareholder concerns and industry shifts.