Alphabet has structured a new compensation package for Google chief executive Sundar Pichai that could reach $692 million over three years, according to a company filing first reported by the Financial Times.
The compensation plan ties most of the potential payout to performance targets, including stock incentives linked to Alphabet subsidiaries such as Waymo, the company’s autonomous vehicle unit, and Wing, its drone delivery venture.
The structure places Pichai among the highest-compensated executives globally if the performance conditions attached to the package are met.
Stock Incentives Linked To Emerging Businesses
The majority of the compensation is based on stock awards rather than cash payments.
According to the filing, these incentives are tied in part to the performance of Waymo and Wing, two Alphabet projects that operate outside Google’s core search and advertising business.
Both initiatives represent long-term technology investments for the company. Waymo focuses on autonomous driving technology, while Wing develops drone-based delivery systems.
The inclusion of these units in Pichai’s compensation plan connects executive pay to the performance of Alphabet’s experimental and emerging technology businesses.
Pichai Maintains Lower Public Profile Than Google Founders
Despite leading one of the world’s largest technology companies, Pichai has generally attracted less public attention than Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Page and Brin currently rank as the second- and fourth-richest individuals globally and have recently appeared in news reports related to real estate purchases in Florida.
According to reports, the two founders have acquired multiple high-value properties in Miami.
Page reportedly spent more than $173 million purchasing two mansions in Coconut Grove, Florida.
Brin has been linked to a $51 million property located about 14 miles away, in addition to two earlier property purchases totaling approximately $92 million.
The purchases have been widely interpreted as a response to California’s proposed Billionaire Tax Act.
The proposal, which could appear on a state ballot, targets an estimated 200 billionaires residing in California and would impose a one-time tax of 5% on net worth exceeding $1 billion.
Pichai’s Personal Wealth And Long-Term Role At Google
Pichai has largely remained based in Los Altos, California.
Although he receives less media attention than the company’s founders, he has accumulated substantial wealth during his tenure as chief executive.
Since Pichai became Google’s CEO in 2015, the company’s market capitalization has grown nearly sevenfold.
That growth has increased the value of the stock he has received through compensation.
Bloomberg estimates that Pichai and his wife currently hold shares worth nearly $500 million.
The same calculations suggest he has sold roughly $650 million in stock as of last summer.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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