Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to get $242 million salary package

Sundar Pichai, who was recently instated as the Chief Executive Officer of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc, will take home an annual salary of a whopping $2 million from next year, according to a regulatory filed on Friday (December 21).

He would receive a massive $240 million in stock awards over the next three years if he is able to meet his performance targets. Along with the salary, the total package comes to $242 million. This is also the highest amount ever promised to any executive of the search giant.

“In terms of grants related to CEO appointments, it’s behind Tim Cook’s grant of $376 million when he took over Apple,” said Amit Batish, marketing manager at Equilar, a firm that tracks executive compensations.

The 47-year-old took charge after Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down from the leadership role of a company they built 21 years ago.

Also read: Google co-founders step down; Sundar Pichai to be CEO of Alphabet

Pichai, who has spent 15 years at Google, took home $652,500 annually when he took over as the search giant’s CEO in 2015. However, his earnings touched the sky when he received $199 million in stock awards, the following year to bag the highest ever amount for any Alphabet executive back then.

The man who is widely credited for making Google Chrome a success, has been in the news for the criticism he’s facing from the U.S. lawmakers as well as its employees over a number of issues ranging from privacy to monopoly.

He was also seen as a potential successor to Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer before Satya Nadella took over in February 2014.

In 2018, according to the company’s recent proxy statement, Pichai earned nearly $1.9 million, including the costs for his security and private aircraft.