Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at a panel at the CEO Summit of the Americas hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 09, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. The CEO Summit entered its second day of events with a formal signing for the “International Coalition to Connect Marine Protected Areas” and a speech from U.S. President Joe Biden. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Google CEO Sundar Pichai received a hefty pay raise last year, making him one of the highest-paid CEOs in America. Last week, his company announced the authorization of a $70 billion stock buyback.
Meanwhile, Google parent Alphabet has been aggressively cutting costs, including the elimination of 12,000 jobs, in response to slowing revenue growth.
That confluence of events has raised the ire of Google’s workforce. In the weeks since Pichai’s annual compensation was made public, internal Google platforms have filled with conversations and memes slamming the CEO for taking a pay bump while slashing costs elsewhere. Some employees also criticized the share repurchase, which equaled its 2022 buyback.
SEC filings showed Pichai was paid a total of $226 million last year, mostly through a $218 million stock award, which he receives every three years. The last time he received the award, in 2019, it was for $276.6 million and total compensation was $280.6 million.
His 2022 package included nearly $6 million for personal security and a $2 million base salary. In 2021, Pichai received a total of $6.3 million, consisting of a $2 million salary and $4.3 million in other compensation.
Memes began circulating comparing Pichai to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who in January received over a 40% cut from his 2022 target total compensation. Around the same ti
