Satya Nadella to earn 70 per cent higher salary than Steve Ballmer

With generous incentives worth up to 300 per cent on top

Satya Nadella could earn around £3m in his first year as Microsoft CEO, with a base salary of $1.2m (£737,000) - about 70 per cent higher than Steve Ballmer's - and an incentive programme that could deliver a cash award of 300 per cent this figure in 2014 alone.

The figures have been taken from a recent regulatory filing Microsoft made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nadella can also look forward to another incentivised 300 per cent bonus for 2015, as well as a stock award of $13.2m (£8m).

Long-term performance stock awards (LTPSAs) will also be on the table for Nadella after three five-year performance periods. These are linked to the S&P 500 stock market index.

To cap it all, the new CEO will be reimbursed up to $50,000 to cover any expenses that may been necessary while negotiating his new terms with Microsoft. This is presumably only the very best freshly-ground coffee and highest quality Bourbon biscuits for the conference table.

Steve Ballmer's annual salary was a measly $700,000 during his 14-year tenure as CEO. Still, if he's feeling undervalued, Ballmer can take solace in his $18bn personal fortune, which ranks him at number 21 in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

In 2009 alone, Ballmer earned $1,276,627 in compensation packages.