The World Cup may be over but a reminder of the staggering sums footballers are paid has emerged from an unexpected quarter: NetApp's latest signing to its squad of execs.

Chief Product Officer Syam Nair, who succeeded Harvinder Bhela in July last year after moving from Zscaler, is being made to feel very welcome, judging by the sums involved.

According to NetApp's proxy statement ahead of its annual shareholder meeting in September, Nair received total compensation of $34.27 million in the fiscal year ended April 24, despite joining in July.

Nair's reported compensation included $30.68 million in stock awards, derived from a $31.85 million target equity grant described by NetApp as a "make-whole" award for equity forfeited when he left Zscaler, where he was CTO. He was also promised a $5 million signing bonus, half of which was paid during fiscal 2026 and included in the total. The second half was due after his first anniversary, with repayment provisions applying if he leaves within 24 months.

As The Reg has previously pointed out, it's tough at the top for both the overpaid superstars of the beautiful game and the prima donnas who professionally kick a ball around a field.

Still, unlike many football teams that are losing money, at least NetApp was in the black in fiscal 2026. The American storage biz grew revenue 5.4 percent to $6.93 billion, and operating income bounced 25 percent to $1.67 billion. Like some of its peers, NetApp's share price is riding high – up roughly 60 percent in the year to date – amid surging demand for AI-ready infrastructure.

More than 1,100 AI and data preparation deals were logged in the year, with 500 coming in the final quarter. That trading performance and buoyant market sentiment flowed directly into the C-suite's coffers.

The star striker – sorry for the labored football analogy; let's kick that into touch – CEO George Kurian had to make do with $22.16 million. NetApp says 95 percent of his target direct compensation is "at risk," taking the form of cash incentives and equity awards rather than guaranteed salary.

Kurian's base salary of $1 million hasn't moved in years, and most of the uplift came from annual incentive payouts and long-term equity awards.

The compensation committee added an "individual performance modifier" in fiscal 2026 that lets it adjust each exec's incentive payout by plus or minus 15 percent based on personal contribution, layered on top of NetApp's financial results. 

President Cesar Cernuda received the maximum 15 percent upward adjustment to his annual incentive payout, with NetApp citing customer wins and revenue growth. His total compensation came to $11.13 million. CFO Wissam Jabre, another relative newcomer who joined from Western Digital in March 2025, received $11.49 million, lower than the $18.26 million he received the year before when he got a "make-good" bonus of $6.56 million. 

Exec pay doesn't seem to be a cause of ire for NetApp investors. At the 2025 annual meeting, the advisory "say-on-pay" vote passed with roughly 94 percent support. NetApp's compensation committee cited that result as validation for keeping its pay structure largely intact this year.

Still, as is typical at such events, executive compensation is among the governance items on the ballot for this year's annual shareholder meeting in September, giving NetApp investors a non-binding vote on pay at the top. If only football fans had the same rights.  ®