EA CEO Secures $25 Million in FY2024 Amidst Hundreds of Layoffs

If, for some inexplicable reason, you still needed more grounds to dislike Electronic Arts, you'd be delighted to know that there's yet another issue the publisher can be condemned for, and this time, it's not even related to their games, but rather, the earnings of its bosses.

Recently, the studio published its latest financial report for FY2024, disclosing details about fiscal 2024 highlights, future plans, and, most interestingly, information about the compensation and bonuses of EA's executives.

According to the report, the company's executives garnered over $60 million over the past 12 months, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson securing nearly half of that amount – earning $25 million, around 170 times the median compensation at Electronic Arts, in salary, stock awards, non-equity incentive-based compensation, and other benefits.

The roster of executives included EA's CFO Stuart Canfield, who earned $6.5 million, President of Entertainment, Technology & Central Development Laura Miele, who received $12 million, Chief People Officer Mala Singh, who earned nearly $7 million, and Chief Legal Officer Jacob Schatz, also with almost $7 million in compensation.

"What of it?" I can hear you ask, "EA is a big company, its executives get big salaries – what is the problem here?" Well, in any other situation, you'd be 100% right. However, in this instance, that viewpoint can be contested because as Electronic Arts' executives' total earnings are skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate, the company itself lays off droves of employees, firing more than a thousand individuals in a little over a year.

In early 2023, for example, EA was among the first game development companies to hop on the layoff bandwagon, cutting approximately 800 staff members, 6% of the studio's total workforce. This trend persisted into February 2024, when the studio terminated an additional 670 employees, around 5% of its staff, closing several offices and discontinuing support for certain service games in the process.

In March, Wilson added insult to injury when he asserted that 60% of Electronic Arts' operations could be automated with generative AI, anticipating that this technology could enhance the company's efficiency by 30% in the near future. Needless to say, when company executives start pushing the AI agenda and proclaiming how it can help make their workflows more efficient, it usually means only one thing to the employees – very soon, there will be fewer of them.

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