Alphabet has awarded Google CEO Sundar Pichai a sweeping new three-year compensation package worth up to $692 million, one of the largest pay deals in corporate history with a significant portion linked for the first time to the performance of its autonomous vehicle and drone delivery ventures.
The plan was published Friday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the deal, Pichai’s base salary of $2 million per year remains unchanged, with the remainder paid in Alphabet stock and shares in two subsidiaries autonomous vehicle company Waymo and drone delivery service Wing.
The bulk of the equity comes from performance stock units valued at $126 million, split evenly into two tranches and tied to Alphabet’s total shareholder return relative to the S&P 100. These could double to $252 million if performance targets are exceeded, or yield nothing if benchmarks are missed. Pichai will also receive restricted stock worth $84 million, vesting monthly over three years.
The most novel element of the package is $175 million in new stock incentives linked directly to Waymo and Wing $130 million tied to the autonomous driving unit and $45 million to the drone delivery service with both capable of paying out up to 200 per cent of their target value depending on the growth of each business over three years.
For the first time, a significant portion of Pichai’s payout is explicitly linked to the performance of Waymo and Wing, signalling Alphabet’s intent to hold its chief executive directly accountable for the commercial success of its most ambitious moonshot ventures.
Since taking the helm in August 2015, Pichai has overseen a nearly sevenfold increase in Google’s market capitalisation, from $535 billion to $3.6 trillion, briefly crossing the $4 trillion threshold in January 2026.
The scale of the deal throws rival executive pay into sharp relief. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned $96.5 million in fiscal 2025, while Apple’s Tim Cook took home $74.3 million, figures that pale against Pichai’s potential maximum payout. As of 2026, Pichai’s net worth is estimated at approximately $1.6 billion.