America's Silicon Valley has long been a coveted destination for Indian talent, housing headquarters of the world's most formidable tech giants, many helmed by Indian-origin leaders. Among these, IBM, led by an Indian-American CEO, stands out.
IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna has recently declared his salary. According to the company's filings, Krishna earned $20.39 million (approx. 170 crore INR) in 2023, marking a 23% increase from the previous year.
While Krishna's base salary remains fixed at $1.5 million, his stock holdings are valued at about $11.48 million. Additional compensations cover travel and security, leading to a total compensation of $20.39 million.
Although Krishna's total compensation has seen an uplift, it still pales in comparison to Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai, who received a whopping $226 million in 2022, with a base salary of just $2 million.
At a time when Krishna's compensation burgeoned, IBM's revenue slightly missed the target. They aimed for $62.3 billion in 2023, but achieved $61.9 billion in revenue instead.
IBM's Highest-Paid Executives
Besides Krishna, IBM's CFO James Kavanaugh received $11.68 million and Chief Commercial Officer R.D. Thomas received $10.3 million, while Vice Chairman Gary Cohn was compensated with $9.53 million.
Who is Arvind Krishna?
Born in Andhra Pradesh, India, Krishna's father served as a Major General in the Indian Army. After obtaining his B.Tech from IIT Kanpur, Krishna migrated to the U.S. to complete his PhD at the University of Illinois. Joining IBM in 1990, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of IBM Research in 2015 and became CEO of IBM in January 2020. Krishna also holds dozens of patents to his name.