PLEASANTON, Calif., Feb 13, 2026, 09:34 (PST)
Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri will receive stock awards valued at $135 million as he returns to the chief executive job, with $75 million tied to stock-price hurdles over a five-year window, a regulatory filing showed. The filing listed a $1.25 million base salary and a target cash bonus worth up to twice that amount, and said the equity awards are expected to carry a March 5 grant date. A voting agreement with fellow founder David Duffield covers Class B shares representing about 68% of Workday’s voting power, the filing said. (SEC)
Investors have marked down subscription software on fears that generative AI will rewrite how companies buy and use business apps. Fortune reported Workday has shed about $40 billion in value from its peak, with shares down about 51% from an intraday high under $312 and down 29% this year; Salesforce, ServiceNow and HubSpot have also posted double-digit declines. Fortune estimated Bhusri’s own stake has lost about $1.3 billion on paper in less than two years. (Fortune)
Workday has cast the leadership shift as a bet on AI, with Eschenbach moving to a strategic adviser role. “AI is a bigger transformation than SaaS — and it will define the next generation of market leaders,” Bhusri said; SaaS is software sold by online subscription. Vice chair Mark Hawkins called it a “defining moment shaped by AI,” and Workday said it will report fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 24. (Workday)
Business Chief, which flagged Workday’s CEO switch as one of the week’s top leadership stories, said Bhusri will be tasked with steering the company through a rapidly evolving AI era. The publication quoted Hawkins as saying there was “no one better” than Bhusri to lead the next chapter. (Business Chief)
On paper, the deal is a big swing, but most of the money is in stock rather than cash. That matters because it pushes the payoff into the future and makes it sensitive to where Workday shares go from here.
The awards are structured as restricted stock units, or RSUs — promises of shares that turn into stock only when they vest. Time-based RSUs vest if the executive stays; performance RSUs usually add a second condition, such as hitting a share-price level.
Bhusri also arrives with unusual control for a public-company CEO, thanks to Workday’s dual-class share structure and the founders’ voting agreement. That can speed up decisions, but it can also limit how much leverage outside shareholders have when they disagree.
The harder scenario is a prolonged slump in cloud software that leaves even strong operators with little room to lift valuations. If the stock does not recover, the performance award may never fully vest, leaving Workday to explain why a large time-based grant was still the right trade.
Investors now have a near-term checkpoint: Workday’s Feb. 24 results and the company’s outlook for growth and profitability. For Bhusri, it is also the first test of whether a founder return can shift the mood around a stock the market has been punishing.
