Google just gave Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package

Alphabet has established a new, potentially massive compensation package for Google CEO Sundar Pichai, valued at up to $692 million over three years. According to a filing spotted by the Financial Times, the majority of this sum is not a guaranteed salary but is tied to performance-based stock incentives. Notably, a significant portion of these incentives is linked directly to the performance and valuation of Alphabet's 'Other Bets,' specifically its autonomous vehicle unit Waymo and drone delivery venture Wing. This structure aligns Pichai's financial rewards with the success of these ambitious, long-term projects.

This news highlights the stark contrast in public personas between Pichai and Google's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. While Pichai maintains a relatively low profile in Los Altos, California, Page and Brin have recently made headlines for their lavish real estate acquisitions in Miami. These purchases, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, are widely interpreted as a response to California's proposed 'Billionaire Tax Act,' a ballot initiative seeking a one-time 5% levy on net worth over $1 billion. Despite his quieter lifestyle, Pichai is a billionaire in his own right, with his existing Google stock holdings and past sales amounting to well over $1 billion, a testament to the company's nearly sevenfold market cap growth under his leadership since 2015.