Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai made nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in total compensation in 2022, more than 800 times average employee salaries.
A new securities report filed by Google subsidiary Alphabet indicates that Pichai, 50, brought in $226 million last year with most of the money coming through stock awards.
His actual annual salary was $2 million, he received $6 million for personal security, and another $218 million came from stocks through a stock grant.
News of Pichai’s big payday has since sparked conversation after Google employees were let go in April and more than 12,000 layoffs were triggered within the company.
The cuts affect an estimated six percent of Google’s workforce.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai made nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in total compensation in 2022, more than 800 times average employee salaries.
A stock report filed by Google subsidiary Alphabet indicates that Pichai, 50, brought in $226 million last year with most of the money coming through stock awards.
According to the filing, equity awards to other key executives at Alphabet and Google ranged from $22 million to $35 million.
Stock awards provide companies with a way to pay their executives based on the company’s performance, according to the Institute for Global Financial Planning.
Awards are a way to ensure that “compensation is in line with shareholder expectations.”
These inflated numbers come at a sensitive time for the company, which has seen a backlash over a series of office layoffs around the world.
Alphabet initially announced the cuts widely in January, with Pichai saying the losses affected teams including hiring and some corporate functions, as well as some engineering and product teams.
Recently, the company made headlines for announcing it would cease production on its 80-acre campus in San Jose.
DailyMail.com reported that the company has no plans to take it over again in the “near future,” as it begins a series of layoffs and cost-cutting measures.
Google Village, called Downtown West, was to include shops, restaurants, a hotel, cultural and entertainment centers, plus potentially serve as a campus for 25,000 Google employees.
The company has gutted its campus development team — which they said would have an economic impact of $19 billion — in a series of downsizing efforts as the economy deteriorates for big tech.
Earlier this year, Google’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, wrote a company-wide email explaining how the tech giant was introducing measures to cut employee services in an effort to reduce expenses.
According to Borat, the company’s goal for 2023 is to “deliver lasting savings through improved speed and efficiency.”
According to the filing, equity awards for other key executives at Alphabet and Google ranged from $22 million to $35 million.
Google has halted construction on its 80-acre campus in San Jose with no plans to pick it up again in the “near future” as it begins a series of layoffs and cost-cutting measures.
The plan was to lay groundbreaking at the site before 2023 ends, but it was paused after fears of a delay to the start of the year, with no plan to start over.
A series of cost-cutting measures and layoffs has sparked anger among employees over the past several months.
During a strike held in London on April 4, hundreds of angry employees gathered outside the company’s headquarters to protest the layoffs.
Unite, the company’s largest union, said at the time it expected to lose 500 UK jobs.
The incident came just weeks after employees in Zurich organized a similar event in March after employees said the internet company rejected job-saving proposals.
Union Syndicom, which represents some Google employees, announced the withdrawal in a blog post at the time, saying the company ignored calls to “engage in dialogue with workers to thoroughly and seriously examine alternatives to layoffs.”
Those who came out in this protest He said: “We go out for those who cannot go back inside.”
200 employees within that office were let go in the latest round of cuts.
