Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM, receives a 23% rise to $20 million

Bengaluru: According to the company’s 2024 proxy statement, IBM CEO and chairman Arvind Krishna’s salary increased by 23% to $20 million in 2023 from $16.5 million at the same time the previous year.
The board decided to give Krishna a yearly incentive payment of $3.5 million for his 2023 performance, which was 117% of the objective. According to the document, he received stock awards worth $11.4 million in 2023 in addition to his basic income of $1.5 million, which remained the same from the year before.

“The committee took into account Mr. Krishna’s overall performance in relation to his goals, which included strong free cash flow generation, sustainable revenue generation (at constant currency), and ongoing portfolio optimisation with a higher proportion of higher growth software and consulting revenue, while determining this award in accordance with the company’s incentive score. The submission also said that the committee took into account Mr. Krishna’s individual leadership in AI and quantum computing, which fueled IBM’s high-performance culture and sustained best-in-class employee engagement.
The IBM sales performance for 2023 was $61.9 billion, with cash from operations of $13.9 billion. The following indicators were taken into consideration by the remuneration committee while determining Krishna’s salary:.
At constant currency rates, IBM’s software sales increased by 5% annually, while its consulting revenue increased by 6%. With $11.2 billion in free cash flows, the corporation exceeded its annual revenue by $1.9 billion. In 2023, the company completed nine significant acquisitions and made $7 billion in R&D and technical investments with the goal of enhancing its capabilities in AI and hybrid cloud computing.
With its AI and data platform Watsonx, IBM says it has recognised Krishna for bringing AI capabilities across the IBM technology stack. He played a key role in developing an integrated governance plan that improved time to market and regulatory compliance by providing a consolidated, company-wide picture. Additionally, he receives recognition for his growing proficiency in the areas of security, cloud computing computing, and AI.
Watsonx is an example of how we are swiftly turning research into commercial applications, Krishna said in a letter to shareholders. Additionally, we kept improving AI Ops and IBM Z solutions. Additionally, we introduced the Quantum Heron processor, which enhanced the recently implemented IBM Quantum System Two’s scalability, performance, and efficiency. IBM also showed our dedication to investing in our customers’ success by adding smart acquisitions to our portfolio.
The CEO’s yearly total remuneration is 312 times more than the typical employee’s yearly total compensation. This ratio is based on the CEO’s $20.3 million yearly total salary and the typical employee’s $65,463 annual compensation. The median employee’s basic pay was $45,197.
Vice-chairman Gary Cohn received $9.5 million in salary for 2023, chief commercial officer RD Thomas received $10.3 million, and IBM CFO James Kavanaugh received $11.6 million.