Alphabet CEO Pichai awarded $242-million pay package

SOPHIE ALEXANDER and GERRIT DE VYNCK

Sundar Pichai is getting a hefty pay raise.

The new Alphabet Inc. chief executive officer will receive US$240 million in stock awards over the next three years if he hits all of his performance targets, as well as a US$2 million annual salary beginning in 2020, the firm said Friday in a filing.

If Alphabet shares outperform the S&P 100 Index, Pichai could receive an additional US$90 million in stock grants. It’s the first time the company has bestowed performance-based stock awards.

Pichai, 47, was named to the top job this month after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down as leaders of the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm.

Pichai is no stranger to massive compensation. The engineer received about US$200 million in stock awards in 2016, which have since vested. Last year, he turned down a grant of restricted stock because he said he felt he was already paid generously, according to a person familiar with the decision.

His total compensation for 2018 was US$1.9 million, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index.

At a staff meeting this year, one Google worker asked why Pichai had been paid so much while some employees struggle to afford to live in Silicon Valley, people with knowledge of the matter said at the time. Tensions between workers and management have intensified lately after internal protests sparked a crackdown.

Pichaie joined Google in 2004 and quickly took on responsibility for some of its most popular products, including Gmail, the Chrome browser and the Android operating system.

On Dec. 3, Pichai replaced Page as Alphabet CEO and Brin stepped down as president.

Brin and Page, both 46, each own about six per cent of the internet-search giant and control Alphabet through special voting shares. Pichai isn’t receiving any such shares as part of his compensation package, according to the filing.