These Were Nvidia’s 5 Most Highly Compensated Executives Last Year

The GPU maker’s executives with the highest total compensations saw higher payouts in the company’s fiscal year 2021 thanks to fast growth in Nvidia’s data center and gaming businesses, much of which was spurred or accelerated by the pandemic.

Executives Benefitted From Pandemic-Induced Tech Trends

Count Nvidia among the companies that benefitted from big technology trends that were spurred or accelerated by the pandemic in 2020, whether it was people buying more gaming PCs or using more cloud services as a result of many having to stay home.

That was reflected in the chipmaker’s financial results for its fiscal year 2021, which ran from Jan. 27, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021. The company’s total revenue for fiscal 2021 was $16.7 billion, a 53 percent increase from the previous year that was largely driven by triple-digit growth in the company’s data center business and double-digit growth in its gaming business.

The base salaries for Nvidia’s five highest compensated executives didn’t change except for the fact that fiscal 2021 had one more week than the previous year, but they did see higher payouts thanks to a mix of stock awards and incentive pay that were tied to the company’s performance.

“On the strength of our Gaming and Data Center market platforms, we achieved record revenue for the Company, which directly impacted the performance payouts under our executive compensation program,” the company said in its latest proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

That brought Nvidia’s CEO-to-worker pay ratio to 89:1 for fiscal 2021, with CEO Jensen Huang earning $19.3 million that year while median employee compensation was $215,930, the filing said. Nvidia’s CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 64:1 in fiscal 2020 and 88:1 in fiscal 2019, according to previous filings.

What follows is a breakdown of Nvidia’s top five highest paid executives in the company’s fiscal 2021 based on the company’s latest proxy filing.

Jen-Hsun “Jensen” Huang

As CEO and president of Nvidia, Jen-Hsun “Jensen” Huang has been the GPU maker’s leader since he co-founded it with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Pirem in 1993.

Huang’s base salary for fiscal year 2021 was $1 million, which is slightly higher than what he made the year before as a result of fiscal 2021 being a week longer. He received $3 million in variable cash incentive pay and $19,266 in other non-equity compensation, which includes 401k and health savings account contributions as well as other benefits payments. For equity compensation, Huang received $15.2 million in stock awards, which is $5.6 million higher than what he received the previous year.

His total compensation for fiscal year 2021 was $19.3 million, which is $7.8 million higher than what Huang received in the previous year. He was the most compensated Nvidia executive in fiscal 2021.

Ajay “Jay” Puri

Ajay K. Puri is executive vice president of worldwide field operations of Nvidia, a role he has held since 2009 that puts him in charge of the company’s sales and marketing. He joined Nvidia in 2005.

Puri’s base salary for fiscal year 2021 was $966,487, which is slightly higher than what he made the previous year as a result of fiscal 2021 being one week longer. He received $1.3 million in variable cash incentive pay and $33,388 in other non-equity compensation, which includes 401k and health savings account contributions as well as other benefits payments. For equity compensation, Puri received $6.2 million in stock awards, which is roughly $2.7 million more than what he received the previous year.

His total compensation for fiscal 2021 was $8.5 million, which is a little less than double what he received the previous year. He was the second highest compensated Nvidia executive in fiscal 2021.

Colette M. Kress

Collette M. Kress is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Nvidia, a role that she has served since joining the company in 2013.

Kress’s base salary for fiscal year 2021 was $915,620, which is slightly higher than what she made the previous year as a result of fiscal 2021 being one week longer. She received $600,000 in variable cash incentive pay and $9,731 in other non-equity compensation, which includes 401k contribution matches and benefits payments. For equity compensation, Kress received $6.5 million in stock awards, which is roughly $3.1 million higher than what she received the previous year.

Her total compensation for fiscal 2021 was $8.1 million, slightly less than double what she made in the previous year. She was the third highest compensated Nvidia executive in fiscal 2021.

Debora Shoquist

Debora Shoquist is executive vice president of operations of Nvidia, and she has been leading the operations side of the company since she joined in 2007.

Shoquist’s base salary for fiscal year 2021 was $864,752, which is slightly higher than what she made the previous year as a result of fiscal 2021 being one week longer. She received $500,000 in variable cash incentive pay and $21,581 in other non-equity compensation, which included 401k contribution matches and benefits payments. For equity compensation, Shoquist received $5.7 million in stock awards, which is more than double what she received the previous year.

Her total compensation for fiscal 2021 was $7.1 million, which is $2.2 million greater than what she received the previous year. She was the fourth highest compensated Nvidia executive in fiscal 2021.

Timothy S. Teter

Timothy S. Teter is executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Nvidia. He joined the company in 2017.

Teter’s base salary for fiscal year 2021 was $864,752, which is slightly higher than what he made the previous year as a result of fiscal 2021 being one week longer. He received $500,000 in variable cash incentive pay and $9,921 in other non-equity compensation, which included 401k contribution matches and benefits payments. For equity compensation, he received $3.7 million in stock awards, which is $1.8 million higher than what he received the previous year.

His total compensation for fiscal 2021 was $5.1 million, which is $2.2 million greater than what he received the previous year. He was the fifth highest compensated Nvidia executive in fiscal 2021.