Microsoft Corp. (MSFT  ) employees reported stock awards reaching as high as $1.4 million in the company's Cloud + AI organization, according to an internal compensation spreadsheet, offering a rare look at how the software giant pays workers amid an escalating AI talent battle. Cloud And AI Staff Report Huge Awards

The spreadsheet, reviewed by Business Insider, contained nearly 600 anonymous, voluntary employee submissions covering base salaries, raises, cash bonuses and equity awards. In Cloud + AI, reported base pay ranged from $111,000 to $450,000, bonuses from zero to $300,000 and stock awards from $9,000 to $1.4 million.

Azure employees reported salaries as high as $252,000 and equity awards up to $294,000, while Microsoft AI workers reported base salaries reaching $232,000 and stock awards as high as $140,000. Companywide, Level 67 employees reported salaries between $239,100 and $280,000, bonuses up to $110,000 and equity awards as high as $300,000.

The figures are self-reported and do not represent Microsoft's official compensation data. Microsoft currently employs about 223,000 people worldwide, meaning the spreadsheet covers only a small fraction of its workforce.

AI Talent War Drives Rich Packages

Still, the numbers arrive as Microsoft competes intensely with Meta Platforms Inc. (META  ), Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL  ) (GOOG  ) Google, OpenAI and Anthropic for scarce AI engineers and researchers. Microsoft has previously offered multimillion-dollar packages while targeting Meta talent. Leaked 2025 guidelines also showed distinguished engineers could receive packages approaching $2.4 million.

Benzinga reached out to Microsoft for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Heavy AI Spending Meets Workforce Cuts

Microsoft is simultaneously spending heavily on the infrastructure those workers build. The company expects roughly $175 billion in calendar-2026 capital expenditures, while Azure revenue climbed 43% in its latest quarter. Microsoft's own results showed quarterly revenue of $90 billion and fiscal-year revenue of $331.8 billion.

"We are advancing the frontier on the cost-to-outcome curve," CEO Satya Nadella said, adding that Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the fiscal year.

That spending comes alongside workforce cuts. Microsoft eliminated 4,800 jobs in July, including thousands at Xbox, while saying the positions were not directly being replaced by AI.

Benzinga's Edge Rankings place Microsoft in the 86th percentile for Quality and the 70th percentile for Momentum, reflecting its strong performance in both areas.

Price Action: MSFT was trading 0.45% lower at $489.51 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.