Amid Massive Layoffs, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai’s Pay Cheque Gets Fatter

Alphabet Inc chief executive Sundar Pichai's pay package has ascended to $226 million in 2022 after it was awarded a triennial stock valued at $218 million. It is the biggest compensation received so far for any Silicon Valley techie, as per a Reuters report.

However, this has come at a time when Alphabet has reduced its global workforce by six per cent. In January, its subsidiary Google Inc announced that it was going to cut roughly 12,000 jobs, which Pichai had described as "hirings done during periods of dramatic growth."

Since January, Alphabet have slashed about 12,000 jobs following months of other measures to reduce spending and set new priorities, what the company has described as "changing economic realities."

Pichai earned hundreds of millions as he received total compensation of about $226 million in 2022. According to Alphabet Inc's securities filing, it is more than 800 times his salary and the compensation included stock awards of about $218 million, reported Reuters.

Pichai's package pushed him well above other executives at Alphabet in 2022. Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice-president of Google's Knowledge & Information, and Philipp Schindler, chief business officer, were given about $37 million. While chief financial officer Ruth Porat's compensation stood at $24.5 million. Their stock grants are given out on an annual basis.

Extraordinarily high CEO compensation packages have become a sensitive issue after a massive layoffs spree seen by major companies world over. Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook too had to dock it down for 2023 after he drew a wrath for making $100 million each of the past two years.