Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has disclosed that its CEO, Sundar Pichai, received a compensation package of almost $226 million in 2022. The majority of
Pichai's earnings were generated from stock holdings valued at more than $218 million, while the remainder came from a $2 million base salary and over $5 million for a private security detail. This is a significant increase from his 2021 earnings of just over $6 million and $7.4 million in 2020.
Pichai receives stock boosts every three years, and he received a similar package worth $281 million in 2019. However, in 2022, Alphabet's stock fell by 39% amid a broader tech and market slowdown. Since January, shares have rebounded, rising about 19.5%.
Other top executives at Alphabet also received healthy paychecks in 2022, although they were significantly less than Pichai's earnings. Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president of knowledge and information at Google, and Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, each made $37 million. Alphabet's CFO, Ruth Porat, and chief legal officer, Kent Walker, both earned approximately $24.5 million.
In January, Alphabet announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, reducing its total workforce by 6%. The median compensation for an Alphabet employee is just under $280,000, according to the filing. This means that Pichai's salary is more than 800 times larger.
CEO compensation has been a controversial topic in recent years, with executive pay skyrocketing by 1460% since 1978, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. Moreover, more than 80% of executive pay is typically stock-related. The institute argues that this trend has fueled the growth of the top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, leaving ordinary workers with fewer economic gains and widening the gap between high earners and the bottom 90%.
In response to criticism from shareholders for earning $100 million in 2021 and 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook reduced his own pay by 40% for 2023. The vast majority of Cook's 2022 compensation – about 75% – was tied up in company shares, with half dependent on share price performance. Shareholders voted against Cook's pay package after Apple's stock fell nearly 27% last year. The vote is non-binding, but the board's compensation committee said Cook requested the reduction, balancing shareholder feedback, Apple's exceptional performance, and his recommendation. Photo by Eesan1969, Wikimedia commons.