Alphabet’s new pay plan for Sundar Pichai could reach $692 million over three years if targets are met.
Much of the compensation depends on Alphabet’s stock performance and company results.
The plan also ties rewards to the growth of Waymo and Wing businesses.
Alphabet, the parent company to Google, has set up a new pay structure for its CEO, Sundar Pichai. The new deal could place Pichai on the map next to some of the highest-paid corporate leaders in the world over the next three years. In a recent regulatory filing, the company stated that Pichai’s total compensation package could reach as much as $692 million if key performance targets are met. While the plan keeps some parts of his earlier pay structure, it also introduces new incentives tied to the growth of two Alphabet businesses, Waymo and Wing. By linking a large part of the CEO’s rewards to these ventures, Alphabet is signalling that it now sees them not just as experimental projects but as businesses with strong commercial potential.
SurveyA large portion of the newly designed package for Pichai comes from the performance stock units with a target value of $126 million. These units will pay out depending on how Alphabet performs in the stock market compared with other companies in the S&P 100 index. If the company performs well, the value of these shares could double to $252 million. However, if the stocks underperform, then the payout could fall sharply or even reach zero.
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Pichai will also receive restricted stock worth $84 million over the same three-year period. This part of the compensation will be provided to him gradually each month as long as he remains with the company. His base salary will stay unchanged at $2 million a year, a figure that has remained the same since 2020.
Alphabet has also added new incentives linked directly to the performance of Waymo and Wing. Alphabet’s CEO could receive stock linked to Waymo with a target value of $130 million. Another $45 million in shares is tied to Wing, the company’s drone delivery unit. The final value of these awards will depend on the estimated value of each business in three years. Moreover, analysts suggest that both the incentives could reach up to twice their target value if the businesses grow strongly.
Waymo, which started as a project inside Google in 2009, has expanded its robotaxi services to several US cities and has logged more than 200 million autonomous miles. Wing, launched in 2012, focuses on last-mile drone delivery and recently announced plans to expand its service to hundreds of Walmart stores by 2027.
Alphabet’s board said the new pay structure encourages Pichai to focus on scaling these advanced businesses. Since he became CEO in 2015, the company’s market value has increased sharply, helping cement its position as one of the world’s most valuable technology companies.
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Bhaskar Sharma
Bhaskar is a senior copy editor at Digit India, where he simplifies complex tech topics across iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and emerging consumer tech. His work has appeared in iGeeksBlog, GuidingTech, and other publications, and he previously served as an assistant editor at TechBloat and TechReloaded. A B.Tech graduate and full-time tech writer, he is known for clear, practical guides and explainers. View Full Profile
