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Google has increased Sundar Pichai’s total potential pay to $692mn over the next three years, making him one of the best-paid chief executives in the world.
The bulk of Pichai’s package comes in performance stock units with a target value of $126mn split evenly into two tranches, the company said on Friday. The PSUs are valued by parent company Alphabet’s total shareholder return compared with the rest of the S&P 100 and could pay out as much as twice the target, or $252mn, if it outperforms significantly or nothing if it lags behind.
The CEO will also get $84mn in restricted stock over the next three years, vesting roughly on a monthly basis so long as he remains at the company, and an annual salary of $2mn.
Google added a pair of new stock incentives worth as much as $350mn linked to the growth of its Waymo self-driving taxi arm and Wing drone delivery start-up.
Pichai will receive stock in Waymo with a target value of $130mn and $45mn in Wing Aviation shares based on their “fair value” in three years’ time. Again, both can pay out up to 200 per cent of the target.
That gives the CEO a maximum payout of $692mn if he exceeds expectations, with a baseline amount of $391mn 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 as CEO in August 2015, Google’s market capitalisation has increased almost sevenfold from $535bn to $3.6tn, briefly topping $4tn in January. This surge has made the Indian-born, 53-year-old former McKinsey consultant a billionaire.
He joined in 2004 and made his name developing the Chrome browser and leading the Android division. He had been criticised for being slow to adopt AI at the search giant — allowing OpenAI to release the first hit product, ChatGPT, in late 2022 — but has since bounced back, releasing cutting-edge AI models and integrating the technology into its dominant search engine.
Pichai has also navigated a duo of antitrust cases brought against Google’s search and app store businesses, avoiding the worst-case scenarios of forced break-up. A third lawsuit is pending against its advertising network.
Pichai last got a stock award in December 2022 worth $218mn, which was structured in the same way. His earnings are topped up by his personal security costs, which rose to $8.3mn in 2024, the most recent filing available.
Earlier in the week, Pichai sold 32,500 class C shares at an average price of $303, worth roughly $9.8mn. The Bloomberg billionaire’s index estimates he has sold about $650mn in stock since becoming CEO.
He and his wife Anjali own a total of 1.67mn Google shares, worth $498mn at Friday’s $298 stock price, according to regulatory filings.
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page still control the company through their ownership of “super-voting” class B stock, which gives them 56 per cent of decision-making power.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella earned $96.5mn in the company’s fiscal year 2025, with about $84mn deriving from stock awards. That figure was up from $48.5mn a year earlier. Apple boss Tim Cook earned $74.3mn in 2025.
