Microsoft's CEO receives a 63% pay rise for 2024 despite multiple mass layoffs in its gaming sector
Despite thousands of employees being laid off at the company in 2024 alone, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will reportedly receive an even higher paycheck compared to last year.
The details:
As reported by Eurogamer, the tech giant's CEO will receive $79.1 million in compensation for 2024, up 63% from $39 million in 2023, which includes payment in both cash and stock. However, Nadella's $5.2 million cash incentive is only a portion of the $10.7 million he was eligible for, as he requested a reduction following multiple cyber attacks on the company earlier this year.
The massive increase in pay has sparked criticism, due to a number of layoffs at Microsoft this year, mainly in the gaming sector. To begin 2024, the company laid off approximately 1,900 employees across Microsoft Gaming, affecting those at Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax. This was followed by multiple studio closures at ZeniMax in June, and another 650 cuts at Xbox last month, with Gaming CEO Phil Spencer stating they were required to "organise our business for long-term success"
However, in its new annual report for 2024, Nadella has focused on the positives of its expanding gaming business, citing its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard as the source of "hundreds of millions of players" joining its ecosystem. "With our acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, which closed October 2023, we've added hundreds of millions of players to our ecosystem,” the CEO said. “We now have 20 franchises that have generated over $1bn in lifetime revenue—from Candy Crush, Diablo, and Halo, to Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, and Gears of War. And with Xbox cloud gaming, we continue to innovate to offer players more ways to experience the games they love - where, when, and how they want. Finally, we brought four of our fan-favorite titles to Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation for the first time, as we continue to extend our content to new platforms."
More Microsoft Gaming news:
Minecraft now has a native PS5 port, allowing it to be played at 4K 60 FPS with increased render distance.
Analysts predict that the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will result in up to four million new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
