Short answer
In the latest proxy filings, Palo Alto Networks' Nikesh Arora reported $99.7 million in total fiscal 2025 compensation2, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella $96.5 million, about 87% of it in stock awards1. Adobe's Shantanu Narayen reported $51.2 million3 and IBM's Arvind Krishna about $38 million for 20254. Founder-CEOs who own large stakes often take far less: Arista's Jayshree Ullal reported $2.9 million8.
HeyAlbert data shows 27.1% of the $25M+ profiles in our database with a classifiable title are founders or owners and another 27.1% are CEOs, presidents, chairs or other C-suite officers, compared with 11.5% and 7.8% among $5–15M profiles. See the data · Methodology
The latest reported pay
US public companies report CEO pay in the Summary Compensation Table of their annual proxy statement (Form DEF 14A). The figures below are total compensation as reported. Stock awards are counted at their grant-date value, so these are not cash received.
| CEO | Company | Fiscal year | Reported total pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikesh Arora | Palo Alto Networks | FY2025 | $99.7M2 |
| Satya Nadella | Microsoft | FY2025 | $96.5M1 |
| Shantanu Narayen | Adobe | FY2025 | $51.2M3 |
| Arvind Krishna | IBM | 2025 | ~$38M4 |
| Sundar Pichai | Alphabet | 2025 | $10.9M5 |
| Jayshree Ullal | Arista Networks | 2025 | $2.9M8 |
These are some of the best-known Indian-origin CEOs. They are not a complete list, and the ranking changes every year with grant timing and share prices. For how many Fortune 500 companies have Indian-origin chief executives, see our Fortune 500 analysis.
What HeyAlbert data shows
Most of the pay is stock
Salary is a small part of the total. Arora's $1 million salary sat beside $94.9 million in stock awards in fiscal 2025. His reported pay was $58.0 million in fiscal 2024 and $151.4 million in fiscal 2023, a swing driven almost entirely by equity grants2. For Nadella, stock awards were more than $84 million of the $96.5 million, with over $9.5 million in cash incentives1. Narayen's $51.2 million included $45.4 million in stock awards and a $1.5 million salary3. Krishna's 2025 package included a $1.5 million salary, nearly $24 million in stock awards, $6.6 million in options and $5.25 million in non-equity incentives4.
That structure ties executive wealth to the share price. It is why a CEO's net worth can move by hundreds of millions of dollars in a year when the salary barely changes. Our guide to equity compensation for tech executives explains how grants, vesting and taxes work.
Proxy statements also report a CEO pay ratio. Palo Alto Networks put Arora's fiscal 2025 pay at about 442 times the median employee's2. A ratio like that reflects the large equity grants more than the salary.
Why some years look small: grant cycles
Reported pay can swing because of when awards are granted. Sundar Pichai's reported 2025 total was $10.9 million. That figure included a salary of about $2 million and no new stock award5. Alphabet makes his equity grants every three years. In March 2026 it approved a new triennial award: two tranches of performance stock units with a target value of $63 million each, $84 million of time-vesting stock units, and units tied to Waymo and Wing with target values of about $130 million and $45 million6. Fortune reported that the package could be worth up to $692 million over three years if every performance target is hit7. The 2026 proxy will show a far larger number than 2025, even though Pichai's role did not change.
Founder-CEOs: small pay, large ownership
Founder-CEOs and early executives with big stakes follow a different pattern. Jayshree Ullal's reported pay at Arista Networks was $2.9 million in 2025, including a $300,000 salary8. Forbes estimates she owns around 2% of Arista, and values her fortune at $6.7 billion9. For people like Ullal, or Zscaler founder Jay Chaudhry, wealth comes from owning the company, not from being paid by it. Our ranking of the richest Indian Americans shows the gap. Professional CEOs such as Nadella reach billionaire status slowly, through years of accumulated stock: Forbes puts him at about $1.4 billion10. Founders can get there in a single IPO, as our analysis of the largest IPOs and exits by Indian American founders shows.
How these executives got there
Most of these CEOs rose through engineering and product roles over decades. Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 and became CEO in 2014. Pichai joined Google as a product manager in 200411. The pattern, and why it is so common among Indian-origin leaders, is covered in why so many big tech CEOs are of Indian origin. For the educational route, see the path from IIT or IIM to US executive leadership.
Reading proxy numbers correctly
Three cautions apply. First, reported total pay counts stock at its grant-date value. The amount an executive eventually realizes can be much higher or lower. Second, performance awards may vest at anywhere from 0% to 200% of target, depending on results6. Third, companies have different fiscal years, so the same label can cover different 12-month periods. For relationship managers, the useful signals are the vesting schedule and any liquidity event that turns stock into cash, more than the headline number.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the highest-paid Indian American CEO?
Among recent proxy filings, Palo Alto Networks' Nikesh Arora reported $99.7 million for fiscal 2025, just ahead of Microsoft's Satya Nadella at $96.5 million. Rankings change each year with grant timing.
How much is Sundar Pichai paid?
Alphabet reported $10.9 million for 2025, an off-year in its three-year grant cycle. In March 2026 it approved a new multi-year award that Fortune estimates could be worth up to $692 million if all targets are met.
Why is Jayshree Ullal's salary so low?
As a large shareholder in Arista Networks, most of her wealth comes from her stake. Arista reported total 2025 pay of about $2.9 million, while Forbes values her fortune at about $6.7 billion.
Is CEO pay mostly cash?
No. For the CEOs above, stock awards made up most of reported pay: about 87% for Satya Nadella and about 95% for Nikesh Arora in fiscal 2025. The value they eventually realize depends on the share price.
Sources
Figures are from the public sources below, with the data year stated. Estimates are labeled as estimates. Accessed October 24, 2026.
- CNBC, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's total comp rises to $96.5 million (2025). cnbc.com ↩ ↩ ↩
- Palo Alto Networks / SEC EDGAR, Palo Alto Networks 2025 proxy statement (DEF 14A), Summary Compensation Table (2025). sec.gov ↩ ↩ ↩
- Adobe / SEC EDGAR, Adobe 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A), Summary Compensation Table (2026). sec.gov ↩ ↩ ↩
- The Register, IBM CEO pay pack jumps 51% for 2025 (2026). theregister.com ↩ ↩ ↩
- Alphabet / SEC EDGAR, Alphabet 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A), Summary Compensation Table (2026). sec.gov ↩ ↩
- Alphabet / SEC EDGAR, Alphabet Form 8-K, March 4, 2026 (CEO compensation) (2026). sec.gov ↩ ↩
- Fortune, Google CEO Sundar Pichai's $692M pay package hinges on two Google moonshots (2026). fortune.com ↩ ↩
- Arista Networks / SEC EDGAR, Arista Networks 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A), Summary Compensation Table (2026). sec.gov ↩ ↩ ↩
- Forbes, Jayshree Ullal profile (real-time net worth) (2026). forbes.com ↩
- Forbes, Satya Nadella profile (real-time net worth) (2026). forbes.com ↩
- Newsweek (with ghSMART), Indian CEOs in America Are More Common Than Ever—What Sets Them Apart? (2025). newsweek.com ↩