Google gives Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package — ten times Tim Cook's annual compensation
Mar 9, 2026
Key Points
- Google's board awards Sundar Pichai a pay package worth up to $692 million over three years, roughly ten times Tim Cook's annual compensation.
- The bulk of the package sits in performance share units and equity stakes in Waymo and Wing Aviation, all capped at 200% upside tied to Alphabet outperforming the S&P 100.
- Despite running a $3.6 trillion company, Pichai holds no voting control — co-founders Brin and Page retain 56% of decision-making power through super-voting shares.
Summary
Google's board has awarded Sundar Pichai a pay package worth up to $692 million over three years, roughly ten times Tim Cook's annual compensation of around $70 million.
The largest component is $126 million in performance share units, split into two tranches and tied to Alphabet outperforming the S&P 100. Both tranches can pay out at up to 200% of target, or nothing if performance lags. Pichai also receives $130 million in Waymo stock and $45 million in Wing Aviation stock, both subject to the same 200% upside cap.
The structure mirrors his last major award, a $218 million stock grant in December 2022, and is supplemented by personal security costs that reached $8.3 million in 2024. Earlier this week he sold 32,500 Class C shares at an average of $303, generating roughly $10 million. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts his total stock sales since becoming CEO at approximately $650 million, though he and his wife still hold around 1.67 million Google shares worth roughly $500 million at current prices.
Pichai has been CEO since August 2015. Over that period, Alphabet's market cap has risen nearly sevenfold, from around $500 billion to $3.6 trillion, briefly touching $4 trillion in January. He joined Google in 2004 and built his name on Chrome and Android. After ChatGPT's launch in late 2022 drew criticism that Google was moving too slowly on AI, he oversaw a series of competitive model releases and deeper AI integration into Google Search. He has also steered the company through two antitrust cases, over search and the app store, avoiding a forced breakup, with a third case pending against its advertising network.
Control of the company remains with co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, whose Class B super-voting shares give them 56% of decision-making power.